Monday Night Raw
Date: August 9, 2004
Location: Gund Arena, Cleveland, Ohio
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

It’s the go home Raw for Summerslam and the big developments from last week saw Randy Orton pinning Chris Benoit in a six man, plus the long awaited HHH vs. Eugene match being announced. That doesn’t leave a lot to be done this week, but maybe they can put something good enough together. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Opening sequence.

The Diva Search starts things off but here’s Randy Orton to cut off the elimination. He grabs the envelope and announces Chandra as the loser of the week. Orton: “AW SHUCKS!” After she leaves, Orton talks about how devastated Chris Benoit is going to be after he loses the World Title on Sunday. It has to hurt deep down inside, knowing that Benoit is going to lose everything he’s worked for. We look back at Orton pinning Benoit last week with Lawler shouting that it’s destiny.

Back in the arena (with the rest of the girls gone), Orton asks what everyone here did when they were 24 years old. Maybe they finally got a car or moved out of their parents’ basement. When he’s 24, he’s going to become the World Heavyweight Champion. This brings out Benoit to say that he wants to see the footage of Orton tapping out. Orton says that hasn’t happened so Benoit puts him in the Crossface right now for a tap. Benoit wants to see a replay right now but leaves before we see it. Dude if you’re not going to see it, don’t make the request. Another good segment here as they’re making me want to see the match.

Stacy Keibler/Victoria/Nidia vs. Jazz/Molly Holly/Gail Kim

Molly takes Victoria down to start as the hair is long, blonde and curly this week. Isn’t it time to retire that joke already? It’s been nearly five months now. Gail comes in and gets armdragged before it’s off to Stacy for what I have to imagine is a downgrade. The leg choke in the corner doesn’t get her very far and Molly low bridging her to the floor makes things even worse.

Jazz gets her turn with some forearms and knees but Stacy gets a boot up in the corner. A kick to Molly is enough for the hot tag to Nidia and somehow things get a little big better. Nidia hits a flapjack on Jazz but walks into a swinging neckbreaker from Molly. Everything breaks down and Nidia rolls Molly up for a quick pin.

Rating: D. I’m not sure who decided that it was a good idea to have Stacy work such a long stretch of the match but it was the best idea in the world. There’s some talent in the division but there’s so much bad stuff dragging the good down. It doesn’t help when we’ve seen almost every combination far too many times and there isn’t a lot of top talent to go around in the first place.

Post match here’s Trish Stratus to convince them all to come with her and do something.

We look back at HHH’s awesome beatdown of William Regal.

A very beaten up Regal and Eugene are at a hotel with Eugene saying he wants to go to the arena for his match tonight. Regal promises to go tonight but it’s not safe yet because it would be a big ambush and Regal isn’t capable of fighting right now. Instead, Eugene sits down and watches TV while Regal rests. With Regal in the other room, Eugene leaves for the arena alone. So this guy who could barely function on his own two months ago can now find an arena on his own?

Smackdown Rebound.

Matt Hardy comes up to see Lita, who has bad news: a DNA test says the baby is Kane’s. An angry Matt just stares at her and leaves.

JR is in the ring for the contract signing between Matt and Kane. Well that’s just awkward now. Lita follows behind Matt as Kane smiles rather evily. We get the recap of the rules for the match, which has to be near the top of the most ridiculous stipulations of all time. Lita and Kane sign with the latter smiling very hard. Matt doesn’t sign, walks around for a bit, and then signs. Kane says he’s more man than Matt and the obvious fight is on. A briefcase to the head knocks Kane out long enough for Matt and Lita to escape.

The Diva Search girls get 25 seconds to sell us ice cream. Joy is in a bikini and rubs it over herself, along with various toppings.

Amy turns it into a plug for Summerslam and sprays whipped cream in her mouth.

Carmella slowly puts stuff on her ice cream.

Tracie turns it into an infomercial.

Maria licks the ice cream and asks if anyone wants to share it with them. She’s rather enthusiastic here.

Christy wrecks the table and says she’s a good little girl who likes to share. This is quite annoying.

Michelle gives her number again (smart) and pours things on the ice cream.

At least it’s getting shorter. Not much smarter, but shorter.

Chris Jericho vs. Edge

Non-title. They stare each other down to start and fight over some waistlocks. Jericho gets a hammerlock until a whip into the corner and a knee to the back has Edge in some actual trouble. The double arm crank keeps Edge down as the announcers talk about King Kong and Godzilla. Edge is back up with some right hands to the head and blocks a splash with some knees. They’re still going rather slowly here and it seems they have a lot of time. Some shoulders to the back work on Jericho some more until he rakes the eyes.

Jericho tries his springboard dropkick but gets shoved outside in a big crash. The spear hits Jericho’s back, driving him off the apron and into the barricade as we take a break. Back with Edge holding a chinlock with a knee in the back as they’re still not exactly going at top speed. Edge tries going up so Jericho dropkicks him out of the air, cutting off the fans’ interest all over again. Jericho gets in the spinwheel kick, followed by the running crotch attack to the back.

They get back up and Edge goes with the simple offense of a big boot before a knee to the face cuts off Jericho’s charge. There’s a catapult into the corner but Jericho is smart enough to bail to the floor before the spear can hit. Edge hits a baseball slide instead and the ribs go straight into the barricade. Back in and Edge hits a release gordbuster off the top, setting up a missile dropkick for two. Edge misses the spear though and Edge grabs a rollup, with his feet on the ropes for the pin as Edge has been doing in recent weeks.

Rating: B+. Yeah of course this worked as they had a lot of time and a reason to fight. Both guys looked awesome here with Jericho hanging in there until he could win over the aggressive Edge. As good as Batista has been of late, there’s a case to be made for this being the Summerslam title match but at least we got to see it at some point. Really good stuff here, but is that really a surprise?

Post match Batista comes out to destroy both guys.

Eugene arrives and, after a break, finds out that HHH isn’t here. Instead, HHH is at the hotel destroying Regal. Well that and monologuing about payback like an evil mastermind. That’s one of the most logical things I’ve seen on this show in years.

Rhyno/Tajiri vs. Chris Cage/Brent Albright

Rhyno and Tajiri have to win in two minutes to get a title shot at Summerslam. Cage and Albright are both OVW guys. The bell rings and here’s La Resistance to watch. Tajiri kicks away at Albright to start and knocks an invading Cage down as well. Albright gets kicked in the face for his efforts to give Tajiri two and it’s off to Rhyno. Everything breaks down and a big spinebuster plants Cage. The Gore connects but La Resistance distracts the referee so time expires. No title shot in a bit of a surprise.

Divas, bikinis, next. Actually not next as Trish and the six women from earlier come out with a challenge for Summerslam: DODGEBALL. Somehow, that’s an improvement over all the other dumb stuff they’ve done so far. You can hear JR’s soul die as he tries to talk the idea up.

Evolution is happy with Regal’s beatdown.

HHH/Randy Orton vs. Chris Benoit/Eugene

Actually hang on as there’s no Eugene since he’s gone to be with Regal so we’ll try this instead.

HHH/Randy Orton vs. Chris Benoit

Benoit elbows them both in the face to start and a baseball slide puts HHH on the floor. A snap suplex takes Orton down and the rolling German suplexes do the same to HHH. Flair is right there to break up the Swan Dive though, allowing HHH to crotch Benoit on top. Orton comes in and drops some knees to the chest, followed by a dropkick. HHH gets to hammer away as well with Orton coming back in with a top rope stomp to the back. There’s a hard whip into the corner as the beatdown continues.

Regal’s blood is still all over HHH’s tape for a great touch. Orton grabs the chinlock, which JR describes as “very dangerous”. Benoit fights out of the corner but walks into a spinebuster to cut him right back off. A small package gives Benoit two and he sends HHH into Orton in the corner for a breather. There’s a superplex to Orton to knock him silly but Benoit can’t cover. HHH gets suplexed down and Benoit backdrops him out to the floor. The Crossface goes on and Flair comes in for the DQ.

Rating: C-. This was only so good as Benoit was literally on his own and wasn’t about to get a win here. At the same time you don’t want Benoit to take a clean loss, so of course you go with the DQ because that’s what Flair is there for anymore. The wrestling wasn’t the point here as it was more about the storyline, but at least what we got wasn’t bad.

Post match HHH gets in the beatdown on Benoit, including the Pedigree (shocking) but here’s Eugene to beat on HHH, who bails out. Eugene beats up Orton to end the show.

Overall Rating: C. This is a hard one to grade as the good stuff was really good but the weaker parts stuck out horribly. The problem is they seemed to be getting ready for Summerslam but at the same time wanted to do a bunch of stuff that had nothing to do with the show, which isn’t the best idea for the go home show for one of the biggest cards of the year. What we got was good, but it could have been a lot better.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/20/new-paperback-complete-1997-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Smackdown
Date: January 1, 2019
Location: PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Tom Phillips, Corey Graves, Byron Saxton

It’s the first show of the year and we’re taped again, though for the last time here. The big story this week is the return of John Cena, who is making one of his regular stops here in between movies. It’s not clear what he’s going to be doing but there could be some interesting interactions with some of the people on the roster. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

Here’s New Day, with Big E. as the New Year’s Baby, to open things up. They’re happy to be on the first Smackdown of the new year and we’ll start things off with an important announcement: all three of them will be in the Royal Rumble. Big E. goes into the Scott Steiner math promo, with Woods asking why he’s doing Steiner Math. If they win, they might be able to challenge for the Universal Title but Brock Lesnar won’t show up anyway. Kofi snaps about not being able to get a title shot so Big E. gives him some of the bottle.

On a sadder note, their doctors have told them to stop eating pancakes but Big E. pulls some out of the diaper. After Kofi freaks out, he and Woods have new year’s resolutions….which are the plots to Bumblebee and Bird Box. Big E. gets us back on track by talking about the fatal five way for the WWE Title shot at the Royal Rumble, but first we need to have a regular match to fill in the fifth spot. Let’s do that now.

Jeff Hardy vs. Samoa Joe

Before the match, we get clips of their match last where Jeff snapped. See, why couldn’t they just combine the two matches? Either have last week’s match be for the spot in the five way or do something else and only have them do this match. That’s a big reason why these feuds feel like they go on forever. Anyway Joe pulls him down into a kneebar to start and punches away in the corner. Jeff slips down to the floor and wraps Joe’s knee around the post to keep things even. Joe gets mad and unloads the announcers’ table to send us to a break.

Back with Joe hammering away in the corner, which is rather different than the expected chinlock. Joe ties him in the Tree of Woe to break up the Whisper in the Wind, setting up a sliding dropkick. Jeff makes his comeback with all of the usual, including the Twisting Stunner to set up the Swanton but Joe bails to the floor. Hardy goes with him but gets caught in the Koquina Clutch. That gives Joe a nine, so he slaps it on again back inside to knock Hardy out at 10:26 for a spot in the five way.

Rating: C. The match was the usual stuff they’re capable of doing, but that doesn’t make it that much more interesting. Joe’s promos were great before the matches started but they’ve already done this match enough that it’s hard to care about it again. Joe just won clean, so why would I want to see them fight again? I’m sure they will, and that’s a problem.

We look back at Vince McMahon bringing out the animal in AJ Styles, who beat Vince down due to a slap.

Vince and Shane McMahon are in their office and explain the fatal five way in a fashion that they would never use. AJ comes in and asks if Vince is sure he wanted to see him. He’s not apologizing for what happened last week so watch the real AJ tonight. AJ teases showing the real version to Vince right now and Vince has to hold Shane back. With AJ gone, Shane tells Vince to be careful what he wishes for. Better advice: make sure that HHH isn’t doing the same storyline with Seth Rollins on Raw.

Here are Rusev and Lana for their celebration of winning the US Title last week. Rusev talks about how great he is, including his animal magnetism (Lana seems to approve) and smelling like a bacon flavored Cinnabon. We get a RUSEV DAY USA chant but here’s Nakamura to jump him from behind. Lana tried to jump on Nakamura’s back and Rusev uses the distraction to superkick him down. That crushes Lana, who can handle wrestling matches but not having a 220lb man fall on her. Nakamura uses the distraction to kick Rusev in the face and then hit Kinshasa.

We look back at Mandy Rose trying to get Jimmy Uso under the mistletoe last week, which didn’t sit well with Naomi.

Mandy Rose vs. Naomi

Mandy takes off the Mandy Rose shirt to reveal an Usos shirt….and apparently we have a change.

Sonya Deville vs. Naomi

Sonya uses the early distraction to hit a sliding knee for two and it’s off to the chinlock. Naomi comes right back with a Disaster kick but Mandy grabs the mic. She was getting ready earlier today and sent Jimmy a picture of herself in a towel (which is covering her more than her gear). That’s enough of a distraction for Sonya to hit a Hellevator (suplex into a Rock Bottom) for the pin at 2:23.

Randy Orton promises to make victims out of everyone else in the five way.

Rey Mysterio has shown that he can’t be pushed around and he’ll prove that he’s not just here for nostalgia.

Mustafa Ali used to be known as the heart of the cruiserweights but now he wants to be known as the heart of Smackdown. He may be the underdog but he has hope and heart.

We get some new year’s resolutions.

The IIconics want to be the first ever Women’s Tag Team Champions.

The Good Brothers want to eradicate Smackdown of all the nerds.

Shelton Benjamin doesn’t care because no one is going to live up to their promises, and pulls down the New Year’s resolution curtains.

Samoa Joe promises to win the five way and then win the WWE Title because he wants to prove himself to people like Jeff Hardy.

Here’s John Cena, bad hair and all, for a chat. Cena thanks the fans for the energy and talks about the year in review. He bought a ticket to Wrestlemania and probably shouldn’t have had those beers before the match. His personal life was all over national television, he wrote a best selling children’s book that he’s very proud of and lived in China for six months. With all that though, he still thinks this hair is a good idea. On top of that though, he can still float like a butterfly and sting like a bumblebee, which is still certified fresh.

The question now is why is he here. Well he knows that someone is going to come out here right now and say Cena should leave WWE faster than Nikki Bella left him. That brings out Becky Lynch to some applause from Cena. Becky asks how it feels to expect a man to come out here but to get The Man instead. Things have gotten a bit more complicated since Cena left, because now Becky wants to take his place instead of Charlotte’s. He’s been THE star of WWE and now she wants to be on those posters and filling his shoes. If Cena has a problem with that, Nikki won’t be the only woman to drop him this year.

This brings out Andrade Cien Almas and Zelina Vega, with the latter saying a fresh start was promised not too long ago. What she sees though is an old face in Cena and a still broken face in Becky. Vega introduces the two of them and promises that this will be the year of tranquilo. Cena: “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is John Cena and you may know me from being John Cena.” The challenge is thrown out and the mixed tag starts after the break.

John Cena/Becky Lynch vs. Zelina Vega/Andrade Cien Almas

The women start with a chop sending Vega bailing for a tag to Almas. That means Cena comes in as well and Andrade is rather pleased. The early tranquilo pose doesn’t have Cena very impressed and Almas’ headlock doesn’t make things much better. The fans want Becky but have to settle for more headlocking instead. Almas kicks him down but gets his suplex reversed. A running clothesline takes Cena down though and we take a break.

Back with Vega holding Cena on the ropes and Almas still in control. Cena fights up and avoids a charge, allowing the hot tag to Becky as the fans stay interested. Some kicks have Vega in trouble and the Bexploder makes things even worse. A top rope dropkick with almost no elevation (Becky might have slipped) gets two but Almas breaks up the Disarm-Her. Cena takes care of him with the usual, including the Lightning Fist. Becky shoves Cena out of the ring though and grabs the Disarm-Her for the win at 10:11.

Rating: C-. That ending was a great example of something that Becky would do and fitting her character. She didn’t ask permission from Cena to do what she wanted and just took the spot herself. That fits her very well and was the right call. It’s not going to mean anything, but it fit for the moment.

Post match Cena offers a handshake but Becky does You Can’t See Me instead.

We look back at Shane finally agreeing to be Miz’s tag partner.

Miz comes in to see Shane and has ideas for matching gear. That means Shane in Miz’s coat, but Shane isn’t thrilled. He doesn’t seem that much happier with the red version with sunglasses either. Miz’s last idea is Shane in Miz trunks, with Shane looking rather ripped. Shane suggests coming up with something brighter and leaves.

The same video on the coming NXT stars. Good grief WE GET IT ALREADY.

HHH comes up to see Asuka in the back and asks her who should get a title shot at the Royal Rumble. Asuka is up for anyone because no one is ready for her. Charlotte pops in to say Ronda Rousey is the only reason she’s not champion. Carmella comes in to say she was champion for a long time, followed by Becky saying she’s the only option. Advisement has been undertaken.

Rey Mysterio vs Mustafa Ali vs. Samoa Joe vs. Randy Orton vs. AJ Styles

One fall to a finish and the winner gets Bryan at the Rumble. Everyone is in the ring at once so Ali goes right at Joe, who throws him down without much effort. AJ hits a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker on Rey before hammering away at Orton in the corner. Everyone but Orton heads outside with the aggressive AJ sending Ali face first into the post. Ali is fine enough to hit the rolling X Factor for two on Orton as Joe makes the save.

Rey dives in to take Joe down but AJ sends him hard into the corner. Mysterio is fine enough to hurricanrana AJ out to the floor, only to walk right into a powerslam. Joe suplexes Ali but charges into AJ’s elbow in the corner, setting up the moonsault into the reverse DDT for two. Back from a break with AJ taking over again but not being able to launch the Phenomenal Forearm. Joe drops him through the announcers’ table, only to have Ali take him down.

Rey does the same to Orton and we get an Ali vs Mysterio showdown. Ali flips out of a headscissors and catches Rey on top with a super Spanish Fly. That’s good for a delayed two with Joe making a save this time and firing off knees to Ali. The Satellite DDT plans Joe but the 054 misses. Joe grabs the Koquina Clutch with Rey making a save off a 619. Another 619 hits Ali and there’s the RKO to make it worse, with Rey coming off the top with a legdrop for the save. A hurricanrana on the floor takes care of Joe and AJ hits the springboard 450 to pin Orton for the title shot at 13:09.

Rating: B-. Not too bad here with the right call. You don’t want to have AJ get that big moment last year and then lose his first match back. I don’t think they’ll put the title back on him but there’s a good chance he’ll get screwed out of the title, which is a fine enough way to set up a Rumble match. Ali got some nice offense in here as well and that’s a good sign for his future.

Overall Rating: C. The show wasn’t exactly great, but it set up things for the Rumble and advanced some stories without feeling long, which is a lot better than what you would see on the Monday counterpart. Things will pick way back up next week so this was little more than a filler, but at least we got a watchable show this time around. Hopefully we get more of the Rumble card next week, but what we’ve gotten so far isn’t too bad.

Results

Samoa Joe b. Jeff Hardy – Koquina Clutch

Sonya Deville b. Naomi – Hellevator

John Cena/Becky Lynch b. Andrade Cien Almas/Zelina Vega – Disarm-Her to Vega

AJ Styles b. Randy Orton, Samoa Joe, Rey Mysterio and Mustafa Ali – Springboard 450 to Orton

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/20/new-paperback-complete-1997-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 26, 2004
Location: Mellon Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

Now you might not believe this, but it’s a HHH night as he gets another (yes another) World Title shot, this time in a sixty minute Iron Man Match. Normally I would say that this has to be it for HHH’s time near the title but you know that’s not going to be the case. Other than that I’m sure we’re in for a night full of the Diva Search girls because they dominated last week’s show. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

And yeah we open with the Diva Search girls being introduced in the back as Julia is eliminated. She’s the good looking blonde one in a revealing outfit who smiles a lot. Totally different from the good looking blonde ones in revealing outfits who smile a lot. After she’s gone, Coach says that tonight, their task is to verbally seduce a WWE superstar. Oh geez is THIS show.

Video on the Iron Man match, which is either the same video from Vengeance or very similar, with a bonus part about tonight at the end.

Opening sequence.

Battle Royal

Edge, Tyson Tomko, Sylvan Grenier, Robert Conway, Stevie Richards, Hurricane, Maven, William Regal, Rodney Mack, Randy Orton, Tajiri, Rhyno, Rosey, Val Venis, Chuck Palumbo, Matt Hardy, Chris Jericho, Kane, Batista, Ric Flair

Edge gets the first entrance and we see about a dozen people in the ring. Since JR is slow at times, he seems confused as to why Edge is here as well. Eric Bischoff comes out to say the winner gets the World Title shot at Summerslam. Minor note here: the wrestlers didn’t know why they were in the ring or what they were fighting for. Venis was very happy about the news and looked fired up to get a shot. That’s the kind of realistic reaction that you don’t get in today’s overly scripted world. Or maybe he’s just a better actor.

Jericho and Tomko start fighting before the bell and it’s Evolution jumping on Regal for the first elimination. Edge and Jericho clothesline Tomko out and a spear puts Palumbo (He still has a job?) down, followed by a toss out. Jericho walks into the RKO and Evolution tries to get rid of him with Edge making a logical save. We take a break and come back with a very excited JR telling us that Venis and Hardy were put out during the commercial at Kane’s hands. Matt came back in to get after Kane but couldn’t get rid of him. Maybe that’s why Lita cheated on him.

Back to live action with Hurricane being thrown out and Rosey eliminating Mack and Richards. Jericho gets sent to the apron and low bridges Rosey so Edge can dropkick him out. Tajiri saves Rhyno from Au Revoir and kicks La Resistance out. For some reason Tajiri tries the Tarantula on Kane and gets eliminated for his stupidity. Kane powerslams Maven and Flair goes up, with Edge slamming him down instead of knocking him off due to reasons of Flair is too old to take a bump like that.

Another spear hits Kane but he sits up next to the ropes. We take another break and come back with no extra eliminations, meaning it’s Batista, Orton, Flair, Edge, Jericho, Maven, Rhyno and Kane as this is certainly getting some time. Kane starts cleaning house and shrugs off Flair’s chops, setting up a good chokeslam. We get the required battle of the bulls with Batista and Kane with a spinebuster taking Kane down.

That earns him a Gore, to one heck of a reaction. There’s a good lesson there about protecting a move, as Rhyno hasn’t won a big match in forever but the Gore is still viewed as devastating so people still buy it. Maven throws Flair out but Rhyno Gores him as well. That’s it for Rhyno though as Batista throws him out and we’re down to six. Everyone gets together to eliminate Kane and Orton drops Maven ribs first onto the top rope for an elimination.

Edge and Jericho get rid of Batista, with Orton seeming to see what happened and not doing anything about it. The partnership doesn’t last long though as Jericho tosses Edge and we’re down to Jericho and Orton. A spinebuster takes Jericho down and a catapult puts Jericho on the ropes but he gets back in. Orton saves himself as the fans are behind Jericho (well duh).

Some skinning of the cat lets Jericho get back in (Orton: “Mother******!”) and they fight on the apron. The slugout gives us some near eliminations with both guys having one leg go near the floor. Orton gets back in but scores with an RKO over the middle rope, followed by a dropkick for the win. Just like at Wrestlemania, Orton seems shocked that he won, which makes sense given how young he still is.

Rating: B-. They did well with this as the action was good and, as tends to be the key to battle royals, the extra time allowed the drama to build up. You can only get things going so well when the match is ten minutes long and that wasn’t an issue here. Orton winning is a nice surprise, as you absolutely have to try someone new at some point and with the long Intercontinental Title reign and rematch out of the way, there isn’t really anything else for him to do but move up to the main event.

And now, the Diva Search girls get twenty seconds each to verbally seduce…..Kamala. This results in some horrible acting (yeah I know), Kamala shouting and slapping his stomach a lot, and the girls wondering how they got talked into this. Michelle goes first and says Kamala could teach her a thing or two and…..oh dear how many of them are left? Christy asks if she can show him how a body slam works because she’s new at wrestling.

Camille says he has beautiful hands as there isn’t a lot of seducing going on around here. Maria asks Kamala if he knows what verbally seducing means. Maybe he knows it better than any of the girls so far. Maria: “Is that what you do? You pound your belly?” Tracy does lines from the Nutty Professor and laughs a lot. Carmella laughs too and says that Kamala is so hot, sounding like she’s about to cry.

Chandra screams upon seeing Kamala and pulls at her top a bit. Amy, in a tied off Hines Ward jersey to a big pop, promises that she would rock Kamala’s world and dances against him a bit. Finally (thank goodness), Joy thinks Kamala is from Hawaii and asks to slap his belly. Joy: “Do the WWE dance.” That was the most grueling 7:33 of my life and THIS IS GOING TO KEEP GOING FOR HOW MANY MORE WEEKS??? This is the kind of thing that would embarrass me if a non-wrestling fan saw me watching it and that’s about as low as you can get. Side note: did any of these people know who Kamala was? Like, any one of them?

Smackdown Rebound. I’ve never been so happy to see JBL.

Clip of some WWE personalities at the Democratic National Convention in Boston for another voting drive. Nothing wrong with that, even though Linda McMahon is there. Hearing Stacy Keibler talking about the economy is….weird.

Diva Search. Swimsuits. How to vote. More time wasted. Each one of them gets their own phone number for the voting as this eats up even more time.

Flair and Batista congratulate Orton on his win until HHH comes in. Orton is ready to face him for the World Title at Summerslam and wishes him good luck tonight, which HHH eventually accepts. He doesn’t need luck though.

Raw World Title: HHH vs. Chris Benoit

HHH is challenging in a sixty minute Iron Man match. After a rules explanation (with overtime promised in the event of a draw), we’re ready to go with a lockup around the ring. HHH gets in a slap to the face as the feeling out process continues. Benoit’s headlock is countered into a top wristlock with Benoit bridging back up (always cool) but not being able to get the Crossface.

That’s enough for HHH to take a breather on the floor as the time filler is completely acceptable here. Back in and the threat of a Pedigree has Benoit running for the ropes as a random HHH chant starts up. Benoit can’t get the Crossface so he settles for another headlock. The Crossface sends HHH running outside again as we’re five minutes in.

Benoit goes after the knee this time with a legdrag and some cannonballs down onto the leg. HHH gets a boot up in the corner and hits a DDT to cut Benoit off. The Pedigree is countered into a Sharpshooter attempt which is countered into the Crossface as we’re ten minutes in. HHH tries to roll out but gets rolled up to put Benoit up 1-0 with 49:50 to go.

Benoit – 1, HHH – 0

Back from a break with Benoit holding a chinlock with 46:15 to go. A snap suplex gives Benoit two and a German suplex gets the same. The abdominal stretch goes on as I wait for the Wilbur Snyder reference. HHH finally gets it over to the ropes and hiptosses Benoit over, sending him back first onto the apron. Back in and a heck of an Irish whip into the corner puts Benoit (bleeding from the mouth) down.

Another whip is reversed to flip HHH over the corner and there’s the dive through the ropes with Benoit crashing hard into the barricade. We take another break with both guys down on the floor and come back with about 37:00 minutes left. HHH blocks a Sharpshooter attempt so Benoit softens up the knee a little bit more. Benoit channels his inner HHH with a modified Indian deathlock, which suits him far better than HHH.

The Figure Four keeps the knee in trouble until HHH makes a rope. A hot shot onto the turnbuckle rocks Benoit for a delayed two with 33:00 to go. Benoit rolls the German suplexes and goes up but misses the Swan Dive. The Pedigree ties us up with….well there’s no clock but I’d assume about 31:00 to go.

Benoit – 1, HHH – 1

Benoit is down on the floor and HHH knees him back off the apron as we hit the halfway mark. HHH drops the still injured chest onto the steps and gets a countout with 28:45 to go.

HHH – 2, Benoit – 1

We take a break and come back with 25:21 to go as HHH whips him chest first into the buckle for two. HHH hammers away some more as King talks about voting for his favorite Diva. During a World Title match with the champion in trouble. Because WWE of course. Anyway HHH kicks him in the back and hits the spinebuster for another fall at 21:54 to go.

HHH – 3, Benoit – 1

We take another break and come back with Benoit hiptossing his way out of an abdominal stretch at 18:29. The Pedigree is countered into a failed Sharpshooter attempt. That works so well that they do it again, this time with the hold going on. HHH holds on for over a minute before finally tapping with 15:40 to go. That was some nice drama before the tap.

HHH – 3, Benoit – 2

HHH takes a breather on the floor so Benoit keeps him there with a baseball slide. Back in and the Crossface has HHH in more trouble but this time he gets a foot on the rope. Benoit slaps it on again and HHH taps to tie us up at 12:03 to go.

HHH – 3, Benoit – 3

With the score tied, Flair and Batista come out as we take what should be the final break. Back with 8:30 to go and HHH throws Benoit outside. A knee to the face keeps Benoit in trouble and Batista posts him behind the referee’s back to earn his keep. That’s enough to bust Benoit open and he’s thrown inside for two. HHH hammers away in the corner with 6:00 left. Some rolling German suplexes have HHH in trouble but the referee gets bumped.

The Crossface goes on so Evolution comes in, with Flair throwing in a chair so HHH can crack Benoit in the head. There’s no referee to count so HHH asks Benoit if he’s ok and covers with 4:30 to go. Cue Bischoff with a fresh referee for three straight near falls, drawing Flair back up to the apron. HHH throws the other referee to the floor and it’s Batista and Flair coming in to destroy Benoit again.

Eugene comes in for the save and of course he can beat up Flair, Batista and HHH on his own. Bischoff gets knocked off the apron with 2:30 to go and Eugene chairs HHH down. Benoit crawls over and, with Eugene throwing the referee back in, takes the lead with 6 seconds left and of course wins 4-3. That chair shot knocked HHH cold for over two minutes.

Rating: B. Normally you would think that there would be a lot to talk about in an Iron Man match but that’s not really the case here. It was just an extended version of any HHH vs. Benoit match. In other words, it’s entertaining and a good match, but it’s not like we haven’t seen any of this before. That leaves one thing to talk about it’s not good.

Eugene is completely done as a character as he’s gone from using his comedy style to beat up Rob Conway (fine) to beating up HHH and a mostly fresh Batista and Flair at the same time. Last week Benoit himself got his head handed to him by Batista and Flair is Flair, but Eugene can beat them all up without breaking a sweat? That’s the kind of thing that someone like Hogan, Austin, Rock or Cena should have trouble doing but Eugene did it here with almost no problem. That not only defeats the purpose of the character but goes WAY too far, and it’s going to be even worse when he faces HHH at Summerslam.

Eugene poses on the announcers’ table and a bunch of replays set up HHH glaring at Eugene to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. There are pretty much three segments on this show, giving you two strong matches that set up the Summerslam main event (plus at least one other match) and both of them were more than fine enough. The problem is the Diva Search stuff, which isn’t funny, isn’t likely drawing any extra fans, and is just showing how worthless these non-wrestlers really are.

The Raw women’s division isn’t great, but it serves a purpose that helps a wrestling show. This stuff is fan service that fills in time, which isn’t good for someone who wants to watch some wrestling around here. Keep those things to one minute segments and do the rest of the stuff on the website if you just have to have it. Last week on Smackdown, Kurt Angle fired four women for having no talents inside the ring. Now we have to see ten more complete for one spot for probably the next two months? That’s our big segment for the summer? I’m so thrilled. Anyway, good show this week, but fast forward through the Diva Search.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/20/new-paperback-complete-1997-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Monday Night Raw
Date: July 19, 2004
Location: MCI Center, Washington DC
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

We’re still on the road to Summerslam and the big story coming out of last week saw Evolution beat down pretty much everyone in sight, including Eugene. I’m not sure how this is going to go anywhere other than more HHH time, but why mess with what has worked so well? For HHH that is of course. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of Chris Benoit successfully defending the World Title against Eugene last week, leading to Evolution destroying the two of them plus William Regal. At least they finally got to the logical part of this rather over complicated story.

Say it with me: here’s HHH to open things up. HHH says he’s not too proud of what he did last week and it was probably even below him. It made him feel rotten but once he thought about it, of course he felt better because it’s just Eugene. He knows Eugene isn’t here tonight so get close to the TV and understand this: HHH hates him and so does Evolution. Everyone here hates Eugene and is embarrassed by him, even his mom.

Eugene has no business being here because he isn’t normal. Just in case Eugene still doesn’t get it, here’s a clip from after Raw with Regal and Benoit checking on Eugene and crying as he was taken out on a stretcher. HHH: “There’s no crying in wrestling!” This brings out Eric Bischoff, who is so proud of HHH that he’s giving him another World Title shot next week. As I sigh heavily, Bischoff makes it even worse by making it a sixty minute Iron Man match.

HHH has a busy night next week so he can have tonight off while Benoit faces Batista. After HHH promises some violence, here’s Regal to interrupt. He doesn’t like what HHH and Bischoff have done so the fight is on with Regal beating the heck out of HHH and sending him into the steps. Security takes him away and Regal’s bugging out eyes are a great visual, as tends to be the case for him.

Sylvan Grenier vs. Tajiri

A slam sets up the chinlock, which of course brings Tajiri right back to life. The handspring elbow sets up a superkick for two on Grenier and the Tarantula makes things even worse. The referee goes after Rhyno for some reason, allowing Conway to get in a flag shot. Grenier hits a faceplant and grabs the tights for the pin.

Rating: C. This was shockingly watchable and the best Grenier match I’ve ever seen (ok so there have been like two) with a decent little story and some nice action. That’s about as good as you can ask for from these two and the eventual title match should be fine. For an opening match, this was a rather nice little surprise.

Video on the weekend’s house shows. Attendance must be down again.

It’s time for the Highlight Reel and the guests are the ten finalists in the Diva Search. Jericho plugs the voting opening tonight where you can pick your favorite but the one with the fewest votes is gone. The women get to introduce themselves and we have Michelle (McCool), Christy (Hemme), Julie (from Kentucky, as people should be), Camille, Maria (Kanellis), Tracie, Carmella (DeCesare), Chandra (the twin of the other one from Kentucky), Amy (Weber) and Joy (Giovanni), all of whom are booed out of the building.

Jericho gets to the point of tonight: there’s an immunity envelope in Eric Bischoff’s office and they’re all going to destroy the place to find it. Jericho marches them through the building to the office (Jericho: “I’m the Pied Piper but they’re not rats!”) and they eventually wreck the whole place, including going through Bischoff’s briefcase. This goes on way too long of course and I’m sure the fans who paid for tickets to the show are thrilled to watch a bad reality show segment on a video screen. King has a good question: “What does the immunity envelope look like?”

That’s not actually answered, but here’s Bischoff to yell at all of them for wrecking the office. As it turns out, there is no envelope because Bischoff is in charge of the whole contest and came up with the whole idea. They admit that Jericho put them up to it while doing their model stances and smirking through the entire thing. This is up there on the list of all time worst ideas in Raw history and it’s only going to get worse.

Tyson Tomko vs. Hurricane

Tomko has Trish with him so Hurricane debuts Stacy Keibler as his new manager. Stacy offers an early distraction but Tomko is fine enough to slam Hurricane off the top. The Blockbuster gets Hurricane out of trouble for a bit and a running dropkick sends Tomko into the corner. Trish goes after Hurricane so he grabs her hair, allowing Tomko to kick Hurricane in the face for the pin. Why debut the new manager if he’s going to lose in less than two minutes?

Post match Trish hits Stacy with the cast but here’s Rosey, now with an actual superhero costume, for the save. You could have done the same thing without Hurricane losing that way.

HHH talks to Batista about his upcoming match.

King reads some excerpts from Ric Flair’s book where he buries Bret Hart and Mick Foley. Probably just jealous that their books are better.

Chris Benoit vs. Batista

Non-title. The early chops just annoy Batista so Benoit goes with the rolling German suplexes instead. Batista is up too fast for the Swan Dive so Benoit goes with a basement dropkick. That doesn’t work either so Batista grabs a backbreaker to take him down. Benoit takes him down and tries a Sharpshooter but gets kicked away. The big German suplex sends Batista outside so Benoit tries the Crossface out there.

Since that would be a big waste of time, Batista shrugs him off and into the post to really take over. Back in and Batista chokes away before raining down right hands to the head. The fans get behind Benoit so Batista crushes his head with a knee. With Benoit’s comebacks getting on his nerves, Batista ties his foot on the rope and kicks Benoit in the head….for a DQ.

Rating: C+. That’s how you make Batista look like a monster as Benoit, even at his best, couldn’t do anything to stop him. Batista looked awesome here with some of the best stuff he’s done so far. His improvements over the last year, or even six months, have been nothing short of remarkable as he’s turned into one of the better monsters I’ve seen in a long time. Very entertaining match here, with Batista getting a lot out of it.

Post match Batista beats on Benoit even more, drawing some cheers (hometown boy might have something to do with it). JR points out that Batista never tried to pin him, because that wasn’t the point of the match.

During the break, Benoit could barely stand.

Lita talks to Matt Hardy in the back but he doesn’t have time for this whole thing. He doesn’t know how to handle the situation, which Lita can understand. One way or another, with or without him though, she’s having the baby. Has no one gotten a blood test yet?

Randy Orton isn’t happy with hearing about his loss because Edge is a fluke. Edge’s first Intercontinental Title reign lasted one day and Orton’s lasted seven months. Edge comes in and talks about Orton having self esteem issues. Edge: “I’d have self esteem issues too if my dad made his career being Roddy Piper’s personal b****.” The rematch is set for tonight.

How to vote in the Diva Search. This is edited out of the Network version.

Chris Jericho vs. Kane

Jericho goes straight at him to start and Kane charges into a raised boot in the corner. That just annoys Kane, who drops some elbows for two. Kane misses a charge in the corner though and Jericho nails a top rope back elbow for two of his own. The Lionsault hurts Jericho’s knee though and they head outside where Jericho posts him a few times. An enziguri is enough to get Kane counted out in a bit of a surprising finish.

It’s so surprising that Bischoff says we’ll redo it as a falls count anywhere match with no countouts or DQ. Back from a break with Kane in control but getting low bridged to the floor. That means a big dive off the top for two on the floor so Kane drops him face first onto the barricade for the same. They fight into the crowd with Kane sending him into a barricade for two. A drop toehold sends Kane face first into a hockey board and a camera crane to the face makes it a lot worse. Cue Batista to blast Jericho with the clothesline and Kane gets the pin.

Rating: D+. Not too bad here with Batista again getting a nice rub. Jericho could go toe to toe with Kane for a good while but Batista takes him out with a single clothesline? Speaking of which, it’s a clothesline, but they’re getting it over by having it be devastating. That’s the case with any move: let it win matches and the move will be over because wins and losses still matter to fans.

We go to some highlights from the Diva Search Casting Special, where all ten were chosen. In other words, it’s an excuse to have them all in swimsuits. That’s all well and good for one of these specials but keep it far off Raw, especially with the long segments.

Here they are again, this time in bikinis. In case you haven’t established that they look great yet.

Smackdown Rebound.

Intercontinental Title: Randy Orton vs. Edge

Edge is defending after winning the title last week. Orton takes him down in very short order and it’s already a staredown. This time it’s Edge wrestling him down and it’s an exchange of waistlocks. They both try dropkicks for another stalemate until Orton sends Edge to the apron where he snaps Randy’s arm over the rope. Orton takes him to the floor and drops Edge back first onto the barricade to send Edge into the crowd. That allows Orton to pose a bit (a specialty) before we take a break.

Back with Orton twisting Edge’s neck and dropping a knee for two. The chinlock goes on so Orton can rip at Edge’s face until the comeback is on. They hit stereo crossbodies for a double knockdown but Edge scores with a big boot. An Oklahoma roll gives Edge two and he spears Orton out to the floor for a crash into the barricade. Back in and Edge scores with the missile dropkick for two more.

The regular spear misses so Edge settles for a neckbreaker for another near fall. The referee gets bumped and that means it’s time to grab a chair. Edge cuts him down with the spear but there’s still no referee. Orton’s low blow into an RKO gets the very slow two and Edge is right back with another spear for another near fall. Another RKO is countered into a backslide and Edge throws his feet onto the ropes for the pin (cheating again).

Rating: B. I liked it better than the Vengeance match because it cut out the long and boring sequence at the start to get us straight to the awesome stuff that these two can do against each other. Edge cheating is still weird to see in his current run, but hopefully it’s leading somewhere. Good, solid, back and forth match here as both guys continue to look great.

Edge points to his head and the announcers plug the Iron Man match to end the show.

Overall Rating: C-. The Diva Search stuff killed the show but Batista got a nice push and the main event was very good. Other than that though, it’s a pretty forgettable show without much of interest going on. HHH going after the World Title again was expected but it was nice to have Eugene gone for a week. He’s already overstayed his welcome (at least this version of him has) so cutting down on him for a week or two is a good idea. Not a very good show, but it had good parts when you ignore all the bad ideas.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/20/new-paperback-complete-1997-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Vengeance 2004
Date: July 11, 2004
Location: Hartford Civic Center, Hartford, Connecticut
Attendance: 7,000
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

It’s the final pay per view before Summerslam and that makes this one kind of a quick stop more than anything else. The main event is HHH getting yet another shot at the title because that’s his inalienable right. The wildcard this time is Eugene, who HHH has manipulated into thinking World Champion Chris Benoit is out to get him. I’m sure this will go according to plan. Let’s get to it.

The opening video looks at Benoit’s path to the title. HHH doesn’t like that Benoit is holding his title and tonight, it’s time to set things right.

Rhyno/Tajiri vs. Garrison Cade/Jonathan Coachman

This is mainly about Tajiri vs. Coach but I don’t think anyone was going to tolerate that on pay per view so this was set up on Heat. Coach freaks out upon seeing Rhyno as Tajiri’s partner. Appropriately enough, Coach and Rhyno start things off….with Coach tagging out five seconds later. Rhyno shoulders him down without much effort so Cade yells at the referee and slaps Rhyno in the face.

The beating begins in a hurry with Cade bailing to the floor to avoid the Gore. Tajiri comes in and hits Cade in the face before getting two off la majistral. A Coach distraction lets Cade get in a few shots though and Tajiri is in trouble for the first time. That means Coach gets to be on offense and somehow he’s more coordinated than a lot of full time wrestlers.

A double suplex drops Tajiri to give Cade two but Coach charges into a boot in the corner to set up the Tarantula. The mule kick is enough for the hot tag off to Rhyno so the pace can pick up. Tajiri tags himself back in as Rhyno is sent to the floor and it’s a handspring double elbow to Cade and Coach. There’s the mist to Cade (King: “Cade’s been mystified!”) and the big kick to the head gives Tajiri the pin on Coach.

Rating: D+. Fine enough for a Heat main event, but this wasn’t exactly pay per view worthy. At least they had something with some energy and a villain that the fans wanted to see get beaten up. That doesn’t make it a good idea though and it’s some time that could have been better used elsewhere.

Evolution has a meeting about Eugene and HHH says it’s cool. Flair isn’t convinced but HHH says when the time is right, Eugene….wait where is Eugene? They’re not sure if he’s here so HHH goes to find him. He does indeed find him, talking to Benoit, who tells him that Evolution only cares about HHH getting the title. Benoit tells Eugene to be careful and leaves. HHH isn’t pleased.

Batista vs. Chris Jericho

These two have been having some issues in tag matches so tonight it’s a regular match. Batista starts with the straight power by throwing knees to the ribs in the corner. Jericho gets smart by low bridging him to the floor, giving us a perfect summation of the match in a nutshell in the early going. A missed charge lets Batista pull Jericho outside for some shots to the head and a neckbreaker of all things gives Batista two. I’ve never seen him use that before or since and it was weird to see from him.

That’s followed by a seated half nelson as I wonder where all of this offense came from and went. Batista pulls him down into a regular full nelson but Jericho gets up and leverages him outside a second time. Back in and a dropkick to the knee staggers Batista so he forearms the heck out of Jericho in return. Again: power vs. intelligence and cunning. Jericho’s top rope back elbow to the jaw gets two, followed by Batista’s side slam for the same. It’s back to the back with back to back shots to the back, followed by a backbreaker. You can’t say Batista isn’t focused.

Jericho flips out of another backbreaker attempt (more intelligence) and hits a chop block. The Walls are broken up though and Batista hits the big spinebuster for two. The Batista Bomb is reversed into a rollup for two and Batista is getting mat at Jericho for not letting it end. Jericho bulldogs him down but the Lionsault hits knees. He’s fine enough to hit the running enziguri for a delayed two but it’s another spinebuster to destroy Jericho. The Batista Bomb is good for the pin, even with Jericho’s foot on the ropes.

Rating: C+. There was a nice story here with Jericho trying to outsmart the powerful Batista but not being able to overcome the huge power advantage. That’s a great rub for Batista who beat a former World Champion and never felt like he was in any real trouble at all. He’s becoming a bigger and bigger deal every single time and it’s not like Jericho is going to lose much by putting him over here. He’s Chris Jericho, and that’s going to keep him over no matter what.

An upset Eugene sits on Evolution’s couch and HHH starts up the manipulation machine, saying that Benoit is just lying to him to protect the title. Remember when Benoit hit him with a chair a few weeks ago? Tonight, they’re taking the title back, but first they have a surprise for Eugene. It’s an old Ric Flair robe, with Flair staring bullets through Eugene as he hands it over. The manipulation stuff is great, but I’m kind of dreading where it’s going.

Tag Team Titles: La Resistance vs. Ric Flair/Eugene

Flair and Eugene are challenging. Flair’s music cuts off O Canada and Flair looks so annoyed at having to be here. Eugene and Conway start things off and let’s have a WOO first. The second WOO comes after Conway is taken into the corner and Flair’s frustrations continue. A drop toehold lets Eugene grab a headlock in a Flair spot and it’s time for the chops. Flair: “THAT’S MINE!!!”

Grenier comes in and wants Flair but gets Eugene doing Flair’s shinbreaker instead. A few shots stagger Eugene and he does the Flair Flop in a funny bit. The Figure Four is broken up though and Eugene is kicked into the corner, allowing Flair to tag himself in and work off some annoyances. Flair WOO’s a lot and shows Grenier how to throw the chops and punches in the corner. A suplex drops Conway and there’s the strut, meaning NOW we go to school with the Figure Four.

Some easy cheating lets Grenier break it up though and now it’s Flair in trouble for a change. Grenier hammers away in the corner and hands it off to Conway, who actually wins a chop off. Flair can’t chop his way out of trouble and a backdrop gives Grenier two. The required chinlock, with Grenier kneeling to the side behind Flair for a unique style, goes on and the fans cheering for Flair in this situation still feels weird.

The front facelock keeps Flair in trouble and Conway runs around to pull Eugene off the apron for a ram into the steps. Back in and Au Revoir hits Flair but Eugene is all fired up for the save. Conway’s legs get wrapped around the post and Eugene pounds on Grenier in the corner but a shove to the referee draws the DQ.

Rating: C. Another perfectly fine match as Eugene knows how to do the Flair tribute act, which in this case makes a lot of sense. I’m glad they didn’t change the titles here as the wacky champions thing really isn’t necessary here when you already have HHH as the real big bad in the whole thing. La Resistance are fine as the heel champions and they can hold onto the belts in this role for a good while.

Post match Eugene hits a Stunner, Rock Bottom and People’s Elbow. Flair looks so annoyed as Eugene tries to hug him to make things better after the loss.

We recap Kane vs. Matt Hardy. Lita agreed to sleep with Kane to get him to leave Matt alone and got pregnant in the process. Matt is furious (and rightfully so), meaning tonight it’s a No DQ match so Matt can get revenge and Kane can have some fun.

Matt Hardy vs. Kane

No DQ and no countout. They start the fight in the aisle with Matt getting in a few right hands. The Twist of Fate on the announcers’ table is shoved away, with Matt nearly crushing a production guy in the process. Kane pounds away on the floor some more and then takes it inside for the first time for some choking in the corner. He switches it up to ripping at Matt’s face before cutting Matt down with a clothesline. Matt can barely stand so Kane asks why he doesn’t fight.

With Matt still down, Kane grabs a chair but gets caught with a Twist of Fate over the ropes. Kane’s feet get tied in the ropes so he’s hung upside down and there’s a bell shot to the head. The top rope legdrop to the back of Kane’s head connects and the Twist of Fate is good for two. Kane hits a chokeslam but would rather grab the steps than cover. Cue Lita (you knew this wasn’t ending until she came out) to beg for Kane’s forgiveness so he throws the steps down. Then he picks them back up, allowing Matt to hit them into his face with a chair for the pin.

Rating: D. This was Kane slipping on a banana peel to give Matt the win that doesn’t mean much. There’s nothing that is going to stop Kane from attacking Matt again and you can set up the bigger rematch at Summerslam from here. I haven’t been big on this whole story but I feel sorry for Matt after Lita had to save him again. Normally I would ask how much worse it can get but that’s never a good sign in wrestling.

In the back, Lita begs Matt to talk to him. Matt recaps the whole thing and asks her to stay away from the ring so both her and the baby can be safe. I’m sure she’ll listen too.

We recap Randy Orton vs. Edge. Orton has held the title for a long time now and has grown up during his reign. He’s becoming a bit too cocky though and Edge is ready to take a stand and become champion as he wants to run through Evolution.

Intercontinental Title: Randy Orton vs. Edge

Edge is challenging and JR gets in his stat of the night by saying the Intercontinental Title has changed hands more in July than in any other month. Doesn’t mean much, but that’s the kind of little trivia note that I like to hear. They trade headlocks to start as the fans are firmly behind Orton. Not what you would expect but I can kind of see the new version of Edge not being as popular. He’s been pushed pretty hard and hasn’t had the performances that made him a star since his return.

A crisscross goes on for a long time until Edge takes him down with another headlock. The threat of a dropkick sends Orton outside but Edge isn’t letting him walk up the ramp. Orton gets in a shot of his own though and suplexes Edge back in for two. As the champ rakes a boot over Edge’s face, Lawler has it figured out: Edge is jealous of Orton’s ability to get women. I’ll let you figure out how JR responds to that one. The chinlock goes on for a good while until Edge fights up with a clothesline to the floor.

Orton goes to get the title so Edge baseball slides him down and the fans are behind the champ again. A missile dropkick gives Edge two but the spear gets kicked away. Orton hits an elbow to the chest and now it’s a LET’S GO EDGE chant. Egads these people are fickle. Back in and Orton gets two off a legdrop to the back of the head as the announcers are rather confused by the crowd. Dude it’s a live wrestling crowd. Why would you expect them to make sense?

Orton chokes on the ropes and gets two off a dropkick, followed by another chinlock. A legdrop sets up another chinlock as they’re certainly dragging this one out. The fans accurately call this boring as the latest chinlock eats up two full minutes. Edge fights up and dropkicks Orton out of the air, followed by a neckbreaker to put both of them down again. A slugout goes to Edge and he gets two off a Russian legsweep. After shoving Orton off the top, Edge hits a high crossbody with the champ rolling through for two.

Orton pokes him in the eye and takes off a turnbuckle pad, which has to be some Flair influence. The Edgecution gets two more so Edge hammers away in the corner, only to get dropped face first onto the exposed buckle. That and a rollup with feet on the ropes are good for two but this time it’s Orton going into the buckle. The spear hits unexposed buckle but Edge is right back up with a whip into the steel, followed by the spear for the pin and the title.

Rating: B-. This was much more long than good as there’s a lot that could have been cut out to do the same match. The ending was really strong though and you could tell the fans were getting into things and wanted to see the title change. Even with the title loss though, you can tell that Orton is going to be getting a huge push as you don’t have him lose a long match clean like that without having something bigger planned. Good match, but much longer than it needed to be.

Orton gets the Goodbye Song because they really can’t make up their mind about what the heck they want.

Molly Holly vs. Victoria

#1 contenders match. Molly works on the arm to start as JR tries to figure out why she’s still wearing the wig. You would think it would have grown back in nearly four months. Victoria scores with a monkey flip but the shaking moonsault takes way too long. Instead it’s a moonsault press out of the corner for two on Molly so she heads outside with Victoria nearly screwing up a slingshot dive.

A trip sends Victoria’s face and shoulder into the steps for a near countout. Since that doesn’t work, Molly starts in on the arm with a seated armbar as you can’t fault the psychology here so far. A Fujiwara armbar keeps Victoria down but Molly misses an elbow. Victoria gets two off a powerslam but the arm gives out on the Widow’s Peak attempt. With the arm not an option, Victoria nails a superkick for the pin.

Rating: C+. Considering the spot they were in with this being an added match and in between the show’s two big matches, this had no expectations coming in and turned out to be a very nice match. It didn’t have any reason to be much but the girls did had a rather nice match with some psychology and good looking offense. Well done here in a very nice little surprise.

We recap HHH vs. Chris Benoit. HHH lost the title to Benoit at Wrestlemania and hasn’t really left the main event since. Now it’s time to get the title back and HHH has manipulated Eugene into being in his corner for this one, while Benoit is trying to convince Eugene of what’s really going on. The manipulation has been great on this story and while the fans aren’t exactly enamored with Eugene, it’s still good stuff.

Raw World Title: Chris Benoit vs. HHH

Benoit is defending and, as always, looks cool holding the title over his head on the stage. A fight over a lockup goes nowhere so Benoit armdrags his way out of a top wristlock. HHH’s headlock takeover doesn’t work so he tries it again and gets reversed all over again. Benoit finally gets sent into the corner and HHH….lets him get back up. It’s too early for the Crossface though and HHH gets outside for the breather. Back in and HHH scores with a jumping knee to the face, followed by a hard elbow to the jaw for two.

Instead of the face, HHH switches over to the back with a backbreaker before pulling Benoit out to the floor. Again he lets him back in though and it’s a snap suplex to take HHH down. A catapult sends HHH into the corner and a clothesline puts him on the floor. Benoit isn’t done and sends him into the steps as this is starting to pick up a few gears. Back in and Benoit misses the Swan Dive, setting up a heck of a Bret Hart chest first bump into the corner. HHH does it again for good measure and starts in with some kicks to the chest.

A release front suplex drops Benoit on his chest again and HHH does it again in a smart move. HHH puts a knee in the back and stretches both arms to stay on the chest as the targeting continues. They head outside with Benoit being whipped into the barricade, followed by another whip into the buckle for a few near falls. The abdominal stretch goes on and thankfully Lawler is right there to talk about how painful the hold is. Benoit reverses into one of his own but gets hiptossed down in short order.

The Sharpshooter works a lot better and HHH finally makes the rope, because just touching them a few seconds earlier didn’t count. HHH is in trouble so Benoit rolls the German suplexes. That’s enough to send HHH outside for the big dive through the ropes and they’re both down with the fans rather pleased. Back in again and this time the referee gets knocked out to the floor in a heap, which you had to know was coming. A Crossface attempt is countered into a DDT and they’re both down, allowing HHH to shout for Eugene. As Eugene comes out, HHH gets caught in the Crossface.

Benoit wisely shouts at Eugene to get the ref before flipping HHH back to the middle for the tap. There’s no referee so Eugene starts getting in, earning himself a big right hand from Benoit. That would be in the better safe than sorry category, though it lets HHH get in a low blow from behind. Now the Pedigree connects but there’s still no referee. Eugene brings in the chair this time as the referee is now face down on the mat.

Hang on though as Eugene grabs the chair, earning himself a shove to the floor and a lot of yelling. Benoit gets in a forearm to the face but has to chair down an interfering Batista and Flair. HHH kicks him in the injured chest but Benoit gets in a low blow so everyone is down. Now it’s Eugene with the chair and he’s not sure who to hit. Benoit grabs it as well but then lets go, sending it into HHH’s head. That’s enough for Benoit to grab a rollup and retain the title.

Rating: B+. I was digging the heck out of this until the Eugene stuff came into play but it wasn’t enough to derail everything. HHH was working on the chest for most of the match and then used it again in the end, though it was ultimately his own plans being a bit too big and evil that cost him. Benoit retaining is a good thing of course but I have a bad feeling I know where that ending is leading. At least it was a good, long match though and the ending was right, even with Eugene getting so much attention near the end.

Post match Benoit leaves so HHH can stare at a panicking Eugene to end the show. Make sure you end things on the real stars there guys.

Overall Rating: B. As usual, Raw is just that much better than Smackdown at the moment because the wrestling is that much better. While some of the storyline moves aren’t the best (again: Eugene), you’re almost guaranteed a few good matches on the show and pretty logical storyline progression. That might not be anything that reinvents the wheel but it gives you a good show, which is what this company needs after all the weekly messes on Smackdown.

 

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2014/09/28/vengeance-2004-a-forgotten-little-gem/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/20/new-paperback-complete-1997-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Monday Night Raw
Date: June 21, 2004
Location: American Airlines Arena, Miami, Florida
Commentators: Jim Ross, Jerry Lawler

It’s a big night here, at least in a way, as HHH is facing Eugene with a shot at Chris Benoit at Vengeance on the line. I’m not sure what happens if Eugene wins but I’m sure we’ll find out in a segment that probably goes on longer than it needs to. You can also guarantee all kinds of interference and shenanigans in the main event so let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a recap from last week with the setup to HHH vs. Eugene. Everyone but Eugene knows that HHH is up to something but Eugene believes HHH when he swears that they’re friends. Regal’s sneer during all of this is great as he and Jericho just don’t want to break Eugene’s heart.

Opening sequence.

We open big with the Rock making a surprise appearance, which certainly wakes the crowd up. Rock finally says he’s back home but is willing to stop for one more ROCKY chant. Since Rock is home tonight, he brought some friends and family, including his wife, mother and grandmother, to the front row. He also points out some Miami Dolphins and Miami Hurricanes with Rock making some jokes about the Dolphins’ defense. See, he’s standing in a ring right now, which the Dolphins might get one day.

As for tonight though, he’d like Eugene to come out here but gets Randy Orton instead. Apparently Eugene isn’t here yet because HHH is driving him over to the arena. Orton is glad that he and Rock are getting a chance to talk though, because all he can remember is beating Rock and Mick Foley at Wrestlemania. It’s too bad that Orton has surpassed Rock in every way but Rock doesn’t think much of him. He points out the rather rude chants the fans are shouting at Orton before praising Orton a bit.

Rock remembers meeting Orton’s dad and grandaddy but also remembers his own dad and granddaddy laying some smackdown. Even Rock’s grandmother beat up Orton’s grandmammy (and looks like she still could). Rock even remembers Randy as a kid, playing with a pretty little pony. Orton got so scared that he ran past Andre the Giant and Junkyard Dog but landed right on King Kong Bundy’s crotch. Rock is ready to fight right now but Orton isn’t ready.

That just gets him beaten up anyway but here’s Eric Bischoff to say not so fast and have Rock ejected. Rock leaves (To Bischoff: “No wonder WCW went out of business.”) and keeps the mic as he goes through the curtain, where he hits on Trish Stratus, makes fun of Tyson Tomko, takes off Molly’s wig, gives Hurricane and Rosey a doughnut….and then finds Coach.

Rock demands that Coach smile and then leaves him hanging. He goes to his waiting truck and guarantees that Eugene wins tonight. Back in the arena, Orton says to cut Rock’s mic, but Rock promises something bad happening in three seconds. That would be a spear from Edge which leaves Orton leaving as Rock drives away. This was really long and completely entertaining throughout, which is much better than a long HHH promo.

Bischoff demands that security keep Rock out when Chris Benoit comes in. Benoit begs for Eugene’s safety and even offers a title shot for HHH for the sake of letting Eugene out of this. Bischoff turns him down and threatens to have Benoit thrown out.

Women’s Title: Trish Stratus vs. Victoria

Trish is defending and has Tomko with him. Victoria wastes no time in knocking her down and hitting the standing moonsault. A trip to the floor lets Tomko offer a distraction though and Victoria gets knocked off the apron. Back in and Trish hammers away with some right hands as I keep thinking that the red steps in the crowd are empty seats.

Trish kicks her down and mocks the dancing (Jerry doesn’t seem to mind) but gets rolled up for two instead of trying the moonsault. A chinlock keeps Victoria in trouble for all of a few seconds until she gets up with a kick to the face. The moonsault connects but Tomko pulls Trish out at two. Back up and Trish grabs a rollup, and a rope, to retain.

Rating: C-. They were trying here, though the ending and the time didn’t do them any favors. This gets us past Victoria as the challenger trying to get her title back, which wasn’t going to be an interesting story in the first place. That being said, it’s better to have a lame story than no story at all, which tends to be the case more often than not.

Post match Victoria wants to fight some more but gets stared down by Tomko. A man in drag (clearly Steven Richards) pulls her out and a four way staredown ensues.

Diva Search: Chicago edition. An unnamed Maria Kanellis is included.

Recap of Kane destroying Shawn Michaels last week.

William Regal comes in to see Bischoff and asks him for mercy. That’s not happening because Bischoff has too many people to answer to, including his sister. He can’t fire Eugene because Eugene has to quit, and what better way to get him to do so than by having HHH beat him senseless? Regal snaps, saying that he may be a dirty rotten scoundrel but he loves Eugene. Bischoff likes his toughness and puts Regal back on the active roster, next.

William Regal vs. Kane

This is Regal’s first match in over a year (due to having a bad heart condition where the sides of his heart weren’t beating in time with each other) and he’s in street clothes. Regal meets him on the floor before the bell and slugs away but gets kicked in the face. That’s enough to knock Regal out and there’s no match.

Post break Bischoff tells Kane that since HHH is getting the title shot at Vengeance (Wait, then what is the point of tonight’s main event?) and that might be against Kane, who is facing Benoit for the title next week. Kane is pleased, but says he’s not done tonight. Evil laughter ensues.

More Divas Search stuff, this time with some of them moving on and some being cut. Maria (still unnamed) talks about how nerve racking it is. She advances, seemingly after saying all of two words. I believe Carmella DeCesare is included as well.

Randy Orton/Batista vs. Chris Jericho/Edge

Stuff like this has worked for months and it’s nice to see it continuing. Edge and Batista get things going with Edge having to go with quickness for a change. That just earns him some knees to the ribs in the corner and it’s off to Orton. Edge dropkicks him down in a hurry and a suplex gets two. That’s enough for Orton so Batista comes back in and hammers away in the corner. A slow charge lets Edge drop toehold him face first into the middle buckle though and that’s enough for the hot tag to Jericho.

Chris gets smart by knocking Orton off the apron and going for Batista’s leg but it’s way too early for the Walls. Instead it’s a running bulldog to set up the Lionsault (with Batista being so far across the ring that I didn’t think Jericho could reach him) with Orton making the save. Everything breaks down and the Canadians clear the ring, with Edge baseball sliding Orton. That leaves Edge on the floor though and Batista blasts Jericho with the big clothesline.

That’s enough for Jericho and he has to be taken to the back, leaving Edge down two on one as we take a break. Back with Orton grabbing a chinlock (well duh) as the fans are trying to cheer Edge to his feet. It’s a bit of a delayed reaction but Edge eventually gets up and grabs a small package for two. Orton misses a dropkick to make things even worse but there’s no one for Edge to tag.

There is someone for Orton to tag though and it’s off to Batista, who walks right into the Edge-O-Matic. That means it’s already back to Orton for the slugout with Edge getting the better of it. A double spear in the corner hits Batista and Orton at the same time and Batista is sent outside. The RKO is broken up and the regular spear gets two with Batista making a save. A Batista Bomb and the RKO finally put Edge (bleeding from the eye) away.

Rating: B-. The handicap part was a bit odd, until you remember that Edge and Jericho (along with Rock and Regal) are people who could help Eugene later and all four of them have been taken out. Evolution vs. the World (mostly meaning Canada) has been a winning formula for weeks now and this was more good stuff, though the lack of Benoit hurt things a little bit.

More from the Diva Search. This time they’re in swimsuits and some of them are dancing. I think you get the idea here.

Earlier today, a Congressman joined a voting rally with some WWE people, focusing on voters 18-30.

Stacy Keibler runs up to Matt Hardy and wants all the details on his Lita being pregnant. You know, because she’s been so close to the two of them over the years. Matt has a ring though and a proposal is imminent, but Stacy is sworn to secrecy. They really need to work on this secret stuff.

Smackdown Rebound.

Eugene, with HHH gear and wrestling figures, arrives in a limo with HHH and Ric Flair. He’s very happy and HHH promises another surprise.

Here’s Matt, who has been ecstatic for the last week, for….some reason that certainly wasn’t revealed five minutes ago. This year Father’s Day was a big deal for him because Lita told him she was pregnant, so he’d like Lita to come out here right now. Matt wastes no time in dropping to a knee and popping and popping the question….and here’s Kane on the screen to interrupt. He wastes no time either by announcing that the baby is his. Matt freaks out so Kane tells him to ask Lita about the truth. Lita can’t deny it and Matt looks a little….insane might be the right word. He walks off, as you might expect.

Post break, Lita tells Matt that the baby might be his and she did this to protect him. So he’s a weakling and MIGHT be a father? Dude, even I feel sorry for Matt right now. Lita cries as he walks away.

For the FOURTH TIME TONIGHT, it’s more from the Diva Search, with the finalists being announced. Most of them aren’t actually named, but I totally feel the connection to all of them. I guess this is supposed to be a mini reality show, but they don’t exactly seem to know how to make these things work. Ok so the swimsuit part worked for obvious reasons.

Eugene is warming up and wonders where Regal is. Evolution tells him not to worry about it when Bischoff comes in. HHH gives him a big speech about not worrying about it because Eugene is with Evolution. Eugene leaves and they all crack up.

Eugene vs. HHH

So…..I thought HHH had to win to get the title shot at Vengeance but since that’s already confirmed, I’m not sure what the point is here. Ric Flair is here with HHH. Eugene is star struck and does HHH pose on the apron with him. They shake hands to start and HHH hits a pretty soft hiptoss. Eugene is right back with a slightly harder one and HHH isn’t pleased. He’ll shake Eugene’s hand again though before slapping on a headlock.

Eugene powers out and shoves him down, meaning it’s time for a bunch of Hogan poses. The test of strength goes to Eugene and he cranks on Flair’s hand for a bonus. With nothing else working, HHH goes amateur but Eugene reverses into a belly to back suplex. HHH is furious on the floor as we take a break. Back with HHH getting armdragged into an armbar but he complains about the pain and Eugene lets go. That might be a first and something more people should try in the future. Who knew Eugene was a pioneer?

That’s finally enough for HHH as he decks Eugene with a right hand and the slow beating continues. HHH chokes in the corner and cuts off a comeback with a spinebuster for two. Some rams into the corner wake Eugene up though and that means an airplane spin for HHH. A top rope ax handle gets two and the Pedigree is countered with a backdrop.

The Rock Bottom and People’s Elbow send HHH outside as Eugene spins around in a circle. Flair gets punched down as well but HHH is back in with the Pedigree. HHH covers, only to have Bischoff come out and say that HHH needs to beat Eugene even more or there’s no title shot. That means a chair so here’s Benoit to make the save as the match is thrown out.

Rating: D. I’m still trying to figure out why the match was still happening if HHH was getting the shot anyway. Odds are it’s Bischoff and HHH doing favors for each other, but it would be nice to actually mention that instead of changing the story in the middle of the show. Anyway, this was just a step above a comedy match with Eugene doing all of his goofy stuff and HHH selling for him for a bit before laying him out to draw in Benoit for the save. It was a bad mixture of two styles and it didn’t work.

Benoit has to fight off the rest of Evolution but hits Eugene square in the head with the chair by mistake. The distraction lets HHH get in the low blow and the Pedigree to end the show.

Overall Rating: D+. Well that was certainly something. You had the awesome Rock segment, two long matches with one being pretty good and the other being a rather bad mess with HHH and Eugene not exactly meshing, a whopping four Diva Search segments and a bunch of people talking about how Eugene was going to get destroyed. That’s a really weird recipe for a show and while there are parts of it that worked, the big story of Eugene vs. HHH didn’t work and that’s what dominated the show. But hey, at least HHH gets another title shot!

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/20/new-paperback-complete-1997-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Smackdown
Date: November 20, 2018
Location: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
Commentators: Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Tom Phillips

It’s the final night in Los Angeles and that means it’s probably time for the Shane McMahon Show. Since being swept by Raw on Sunday, Shane has promised big changes for the show and that could mean several things. In theory this is the start of the long awaited Shane heel turn, meaning Paige’s job might be in jeopardy. Let’s get to it.

Here are last week’s results if you need a recap.

We open with a recap of Charlotte snapping and attacking Ronda Rousey on Sunday, turning hard heel in the process.

Here’s Charlotte to get things going. Charlotte is very proud of what she did on Sunday and some of the fans don’t seem to mind. Rousey is moving around a little more slowly since Sunday because Charlotte was fighting for everyone in the back. She was fighting for Becky Lynch, who wanted Rousey to take the beating of her life. Well mission accomplished, because Rousey bowed down to the queen.

Cue Paige, to remind Charlotte that Rousey is coming for her soon enough. Charlotte shoved a bunch of referees on Sunday so it’s going to be a $100,000 fine. This brings out the IIconics, who know they’re Paige’s favorite. They want the $100,000 (It’s not a bounty.) so Charlotte will fight one of them right now.

Charlotte vs. Billie Kay

Charlotte sends her outside to start but a Peyton Royce distraction lets Billie get in a big boot to take over. Some right hands keep Charlotte in trouble but she’s right back up with a few shots of her own. Natural Selection finishes Kay at 3:14.

Rating: D. Well what else are you supposed to say about that? Charlotte seemingly turned heel on Sunday and now she’s squashing a heel jobber here. I’m sure this is exactly what WWE had planned and makes perfect sense if you squint hard enough, but I’m still trying to get over Charlotte fighting for Becky, who she hated just a few weeks ago.

Post match Charlotte tells Peyton to get in here but she’d rather leave.

Charlotte vs. Peyton Royce

So much for that. Joined in progress with Peyton hitting some knees to the face for two each and we hit the chinlock. Kay offers a distraction but Charlotte cuts Peyton off with a big boot. That’s enough to draw Kay in for the DQ at 1:48.

Post match the IIconics take her to the floor and grab a chair but Charlotte spears both of them down and rams them into the announcers’ table over and over. Charlotte knees them in the head and throws them over the table before posing a bit. I have no idea where we are right now. Is Charlotte a heel when she’s fighting Rousey but a face when she’s back on Smackdown? Am I missing something?

Rey Mysterio is ready to take on Randy Orton tonight.

We look back at Daniel Bryan turning heel (again, apparently only on this show) to win the WWE Title last week.

Here’s Miz for MizTV to a hometown welcome. He was honored to fight alongside his guest tonight: Shane McMahon. Shane limps to the ring so Miz does the dance for him. Miz says it’s fitting that the two of them were the last men standing for Smackdown, just like at WWE World Cup (So they can’t say Crown Jewel anymore.) when they left it all in the ring. Shane lists off everything he did on Sunday but Miz gets to the point: since they’re both the Best in the World, they should be a team. The Besties in the World! Shane isn’t sure but Miz has already gotten them a match for right here, right now.

Shane McMahon/The Miz vs. The Bryant Brothers

The Brothers are apparently brothers in the same sense as the Dudleys. The announcers make fun of the tiny jobbers as Miz knees one of the them in the ribs. A kick to the face lets Miz do another shuffle and hit a DDT. Miz goes to brag to Shane….and gets small packaged for the pin at 1:16. Shane’s smirk is pretty funny.

New Day runs into the Gobbledy Gooker, as played by R-Truth.

New Day vs. The Bar/Big Show

It’s a Thanksgiving Feast Fight. Before the match, Sheamus and the Bar talk about how stupid this is and how they want to fight. Joined not in progress after a break with Show chopping the shirt off of Woods and handing it off to Sheamus for the forearms to the chest. Cesaro grabs a chinlock for a bit but Woods pops back up and makes the tag off to Kofi. Everything breaks down and Show gets kicked through a table of food. The turkey is brought in and Kofi comes off the top with a turkey to Sheamus’ head, driving him through the mashed potatoes. Big E. turkeys Sheamus in the head for the pin at 6:39.

Rating: F. Remember last month when they did this with Halloween stuff? Well now it’s turkey stuff. I’m not sure why WWE thinks this stuff is funny but we’ll be seeing it again next month for Christmas and maybe even in February with some groundhog casserole. I know it’s a wrestling staple and I’m just rather done with being amused by it.

Post match Cesaro gets covered in cranberry sauce.

Randy Orton has a Mysterio mask and says it means nothing to him. It deserves to be destroyed, just like the man who wears it. Tonight, Orton is destroying him with an RKO.

Naomi/Asuka vs. Sonya Deville/Mandy Rose

It’s a brawl to start with Naomi and Asuka hitting stereo hip attacks to put them on the floor as we take a very early break. Back with Naomi getting stomped down in the corner and Sonya coming in for a choke in the corner. An enziguri drops Sonya though and the hot tag brings in Asuka to run through Mandy. Sonya gets knocked off the apron by mistake and there’s no one for Mandy to tag. A German suplex drops Mandy and a Shining Wizard gives Asuka two. Sonya tags herself in and nearly hits Mandy before getting kicked in the head by Asuka. Naomi hits the Rear View on Sonya and the Asuka Lock makes Mandy tap at 6:44.

Rating: D+. What does it say that I was relieved when Asuka didn’t lose to these two? Mandy and Sonya splitting will do both of them some good as WWE seems to want to push Sonya but you can only get so far when you’re teaming with someone like Mandy. Naomi and Asuka as a team still does nothing for me so it would be nice if we could just have Stephanie come out for her photo op with the Women’s Tag Team Titles.

We recap Randy Orton vs. Rey Mysterio, which started when Rey eliminated him from the World Cup at World Cup.

Lars Sullivan is coming.

At TLC: AJ Styles vs. Daniel Bryan for the title.

Here’s Daniel Bryan for a chat. Speaking in the third person, Bryan says he gave up on his dreams three years ago and betrayed himself when he retired. The difference between Bryan and the people is he doesn’t give up and accept failure. He decided to fight and went to every doctor he could find and spent three hours inside a hyperbolic chamber every day. The healing worked but it also allowed him to meditate on his mantra of “fight for your dreams and your dreams will fight for you.” And it worked!

How else can you explain the miracle of him being able to return to the ring? He heard the loudest YES chants ever and it was a great moment. For these people though, it was just a moment because they weren’t there for the struggle and the pain. They weren’t there for everyone telling him to move on. The people were the only ones who moved on and you can hear it as these idiots chant for AJ Styles.

Bryan calls them fickle and says last week, Bryan’s dreams took over like they were programmed to do and kicked AJ low. Bryan’s dreams told him that he didn’t need to beat Brock Lesnar at Survivor Series because he won when Brock beat the weakness out of him. There would be a new emergence after that match because the old Bryan, the one that these people loved, is dead. The YES Movement is dead and all that’s left is Daniel Bryan: WWE Champion. All that matters is that you never give up on your dreams. He goes to leave but has the announcer say he is the NEW Daniel Bryan.

It’s going to take some time to see how this sticks, but I think I can go with it for now. The problem of course is the fans cheering Bryan anyway because he’s going to be great in this role, but WWE has pretty clearly given up on the concepts of faces and heels so you can’t exactly expect anything else.

R-Truth and Carmella sell stuff and dance.

Rey Mysterio vs. Randy Orton

Rating: D+. I’m still not sure why WWE insists on ending the show with guys on this level so often. They’re fine, but really they’re ending it with the upper midcard in a feud that doesn’t have a lot of heat instead of their big stuff. I can understand that more on Raw when the show is ending at 11, but I’m really not sure I get it here. The match was watchable, but nothing more than that.

Post match Randy puts the chair around Rey’s throat and gently throws it into the chair, knocking Rey’s mask off. Randy takes the mask with him to end the show. This might be more effective if Ronda Rousey hadn’t had something similar happen to her on Sunday before she won a match the next night.

Overall Rating: D. I don’t know what I just watched. Once the show was over, I didn’t remember disliking anything that much save for the really stupid food fight, but looking back there’s almost nothing good, aside from the Bryan promo. This show felt like they’re completely ignoring Survivor Series (the sweep wasn’t mentioned and Shane’s advertised State of the State address didn’t happen.

I’m still not sure where they’re going with the stories. Are we supposed to cheer Charlotte after what she did on Sunday? Or like Shane because he fought oh so hard? It’s like this show just ignored Survivor Series but wanted to use some parts of it in different ways than they set them up in the first place. Why I’d want to see Shane vs. Miz isn’t clear, but that’s the case with almost everything Shane does. The show wasn’t bad at first look, but when you look back at it, I’m more confused than anything else.

Results

Charlotte b. Billie Kay – Natural Selection

Charlotte b. Peyton Royce via DQ when Billie Kay interfered

The Bryant Brothers b. Shane McMahon/The Miz – Small package to Miz

New Day b. The Bar/Big Show – Turkey to the head

Naomi/Asuka b. Mandy Rose/Sonya Deville – Asuka Lock to Rose

Randy Orton b. Rey Mysterio – RKO

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 1997 Monday Night Raw Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/11/20/new-paperback-complete-1997-monday-night-raw-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Survivor Series 2016
Date: November 20, 2016
Location: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Attendance: 17,143
Commentators: Corey Graves, Byron Saxton, Mauro Ranallo, John Bradshaw Layfield, Michael Cole, David Otunga

I say this every year but it’s always hard to believe that it’s been a full year since this show. This was the first time that a Survivor Series was expanded to four hours but thankfully there’s a good chance that they could make it work, mainly due to the elimination matches. The main event though is Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg, which I’m sure will be completely uneventful. Let’s get to it.

Kickoff Show: Drew Gulak/Ariya Daivari/Tony Nese vs. Noam Dar/TJ Perkins/Rich Swann

This is a preview match for something called 205 Live, which debuts next week. I know it hasn’t gone great but the division really has evolved into a better place than when it started. Swann gets a nice reaction and then starts with Nese, who gets chopped in the corner. They do their regular flips with Swann’s jump over Nese’s feet getting a good pop (as always) before it’s off to Perkins.

Some suplexes set up an Octopus Hold but Nese reverses into a kind of gutwrench suplex. Gulak comes in and gets caught in the wrong corner with everyone working him over. We actually get a TJ PERKINS chant as he slaps on the kneebar to keep Gulak in trouble. Everything breaks down and we take a break.

Back with Daivari in trouble this time as Dar gets two off a running kick to the face. Nese offers a distraction though and a spinebuster takes Dar down. A superkick gives Daivari two and it’s back to Gulak to crank on the leg. If this sounds rather uninteresting, it’s only because that’s what it is.

Dar dropkicks his way to freedom and the hot tag brings in Swann to very little reaction. A good looking jumping hurricanrana takes Daivari off the middle rope as everything breaks down again. That means we hit the dives but the referee CUTS PERKINS OFF. Now you know that’s not working so Perkins dives over the referee to take out some villains. Back in and Swann’s standing 450 ends Daivari at 11:48.

Rating: C-. I forgot how uninteresting these earlier cruiserweight matches were. The guys barely have characters and the entire story here was “three faces vs. three heels”. It didn’t get much better for a long time but, as usual, the problem comes down to one simple thing: if the smaller guys on the main roster can be big stars and do all these dives, why should I be impressed when cruiserweights can do them too?

Kickoff Show: Luke Harper vs. Kane

Harper is part of the NEW Wyatt Family, which screwed Kane over, meaning we need a match here. Kane grabs a full nelson of all things and we’re in a chinlock fifteen seconds in. That goes nowhere so Harper grabs a headlock as the fans are oddly split here. Kane starts in on the shoulder by sending it into the buckle. Harper sends him outside though and hits that suicide shove of his (Who needs cruiserweights?).

A slingshot flip splash gives Luke two and we take a break. Back with Kane in a chinlock (well duh) but managing to superplex Harper down for a crash. The sidewalk slam gets two but Harper scores with a superkick for the same. Kane’s running DDT and Harper’s Boss Man Slam are good for two more each but it’s the chokeslam to put Harper away at 9:10.

Rating: D+. Well what were you expecting here? This was exactly the match you would have planned out for them and Kane won with his finisher. It’s about as paint by numbers of a power match as you can get and while it wasn’t terrible, it’s also a match I really didn’t need to see.

The opening video looks at Goldberg vs. Lesnar and then all the Raw vs. Smackdown matches. Well at least they got some time. I’m sure Stephanie’s voiceovers had nothing to do with it.

Raw Women’s Team vs. Smackdown Women’s Team

Raw: Bayley, Alicia Fox, Charlotte, Nia Jax, Sasha Banks

Smackdown: Alexa Bliss, Becky Lynch, Carmella, Naomi, Nikki Bella

Entrances alone take forever of course, which will be a theme tonight. Charlotte is Raw Women’s Champion and has Dana Brooke in her corner. Becky is Smackdown Women’s Champion but Nikki is captain. You know, because of course. Bliss gets a heck of a reaction (gee I wonder why). Actually hang on a second as there’s no Nikki. We cut to the back where she’s down after being attacked. Not to worry though, as Smackdown coach Natalya is more than willing to take the spot.

We settle down to Becky and Banks trading rollups before it’s off to Charlotte for more of the same. Becky can’t get the Disarm-Her and it’s off to Nia as things get a lot more difficult. Carmella and Bliss come in for the expected results and Naomi’s high crossbody is pulled out of the air. Natalya actually gets a reaction but Nia clotheslines her head off for her efforts. It’s off to Fox vs. Carmella with Alicia avoiding a Bronco Buster, setting up what looked to be a mostly missed ax kick for the elimination at 6:35. Bliss comes right in, sends Fox into the buckle and adds Twisted Bliss to tie it up at 6:48.

Charlotte and Naomi come in with the latter cleaning house, including knocking Nia outside and hitting a high crossbody to the floor. Nia posts her though and that’s a countout at 8:23. We pause for the Tye Dillinger TEN chant until Bliss takes Banks down and grinds her face into the mat. Banks sends Bliss and Natalya into each other, followed by the double knees in the corner to Alexa. Back up and Bliss saves Natalya from the Bank Statement, allowing Natalya to roll Banks up for the elimination at 10:20.

Charlotte comes in and gets suplexed, meaning we hit the SUPLEX CITY chants. You would think fans would know more chants than that. Charlotte goes up for the moonsault but, as always, Natalya powerbombs her down for two in the near fall that never ends Charlotte. The required Sharpshooter sends Charlotte crawling for the ropes but a big boot ends Natalya at 12:01.

Becky and Bliss get in an argument over who should come in, allowing Jax to suplex them both at the same time. Of course that gets a MAMA MIA from Mauro, which I miss hearing so often. Bliss gets caught in a slam but Becky makes a blind tag and missile dropkicks Bliss in the back to knock her onto Jax. The Disarm-Her actually makes Jax tap at 13:35 and it’s 2-2 with Becky/Bliss vs Charlotte/Bayley.

Jax mauls Becky, leaving Bliss to get big booted down for the elimination at 14:03. Becky fights back as fast as she can with the series of clotheslines into the leg lariat, followed by Bexplex. Bayley has to dive in for a save after a top rope legdrop before coming in for the slugout. Another Bexplex gets two but Bayley’s elbow to the back gets the same. You can tell Becky is getting tired out there so Bayley blocks the Disarm-Her and grabs the Bayley to Belly for the final pin at 17:53.

Rating: C+. The quick eliminations didn’t help things here but the ending was the right call. There was way too much talent on the Raw side to lose and I’m VERY glad it was Natalya, who can wrestle this style without having to dumb things down too much. Becky was pretty much all the blue team had for a lot of the match and she put up a valiant effort, only to be outgunned. That makes her look strong and Bayley getting a win like this is a good thing for her at this stage in her main roster career.

Charlotte takes Bayley out post match and beats her around ringside.

Smackdown mascot James Ellsworth runs into Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows, who weren’t funny in 2016 either. They make some bad chin puns but Raw GM Mick Foley comes in to run them off. Ellsworth talks about all the great memories he has of Foley, most of which involve him being in extreme pain. Foley thanks him anyway and suggests Ellsworth move to Raw. He appreciates the offer but politely turns it down because he’s true blue. Foley leaves and Ellsworth runs into Braun Strowman, who asks if he knows Ellsworth. James runs in a smart move.

Intercontinental Title: Miz vs. Sami Zayn

Miz is defending and Sami is trying to take the title to Raw. We get the Big Match Intros and Sami gets quite the reaction for being Canadian. Sami spins out of a wristlock to start and Miz looks annoyed in the corner. Miz gets sent outside but Sami has to bail out of the flip dive. The moonsault off the barricade works though, drawing over Maryse for a distraction. Well she can be quite distracting.

This one works well with Miz taking out the knee to get his first advantage. Some hard stomps to the knees have Sami in trouble but he’s still able to clothesline Miz to the floor. A flip dive works as well, followed by a Michinoku Driver for two. Miz’s short DDT gets the same and it’s time for a double breather. The running corner dropkick/clothesline look to set up the ax handle but Sami reverses into the Blue Thunder Bomb.

The Helluva Kick only hits corner though and that means the Figure Four. This one stays on for a good while until Sami makes the ropes, earning himself some YES Kicks. Sami reverses one into a Figure Four of his own but Maryse rings the bell. Since Sami isn’t all that bright, he of course falls for it, only to have Miz roll him up to retain at 14:06.

Rating: C-. Kind of a dull match as you knew a lot of Sami’s near falls weren’t going anywhere. I can go for Miz and Maryse teaming up to steal wins though and it’s a big reason why he’s been an awesome Intercontinental Champion. This would also help play into Sami’s heel turn nearly a year later as he would get tired of losing while playing by the rules. Makes sense, especially in a long term form.

Dean Ambrose and AJ Styles are bickering over being teammates tonight when Shane McMahon comes in and tells them to cool it so Smackdown doesn’t lose again.

Raw Tag Teams vs. Smackdown Tag Teams

Raw: Enzo Amore/Big Cass, Cesaro/Sheamus, Gallows and Anderson, New Day, Shining Stars

Smackdown: American Alpha, Breezango, Heath Slater/Rhyno, Hype Bros, Usos

A fall eliminates both members of a team. Enzo and Cass suck up to the live crowd, as you might expect. New Day and Slater/Rhyno are the respective champions. Fandango tries to give everyone a fashion ticket to start, earning himself a Midnight Hour for the elimination at 44 seconds. New Day spends too much time celebrating though and it’s a superkick from Jimmy to pin Big E. at 1:08.

Gallows comes in to punch Jimmy in the face before handing it off to Cass for the tall power. The fast tags continue as it’s off to Epico vs. Ryder (who is rocking some old school Survivor Series logo trunks) with Mojo coming in for a clap around the ears. Rawley gets taken down into the corner for the huge group beating though as we keep trying to get everyone in. It’s back to Ryder (not Slater like the fans want) but Gallows saves Anderson from the Broski Boot. Instead it’s the Magic Killer to pin Ryder at 5:08.

Gable comes in as Graves talks about how scared he is of American Alpha. It doesn’t seem to be the most valid fear to start though as Epico takes Gable down into a chinlock. Some rolling suplexes have Gable in more trouble and Primo comes in with a springboard ax handle to the ribs. He misses a charge in the corner though and it’s off to Jordan for a quick Steiner Bulldog to get rid of the Stars at 8:08.

The six remaining teams (Enzo/Big Cass, Cesaro/Sheamus, Gallows and Anderson vs. American Alpha, Heath Slater/Rhyno, Usos) come in at once as everything breaks down. That means Enzo gets tossed over the top onto a big pile….which was mainly Raw guys but whatever. Rhyno gets thrown over the top as well, only to have Slater add an even bigger dive. Back in and Cesaro swings Jordan but Gable makes the save with a Rolling Chaos Theory.

Gable isn’t done though as Jordan throws him over the top for a HUGE flip dive onto everyone. Sweet goodness those two were awesome together. I mean, not as awesome as Jordan on his own with Kurt Angle kind of around but still. Back in and it’s a quick Magic Killer to get rid of Jordan at 10:39 as the eliminations are still flying. A spinebuster plants Slater and he’s caught in the wrong corner.

Sheamus won’t tag Cesaro (this was before their ridiculous matching outfits) and an argument breaks out, allowing the hot tag off to Rhyno as everyone bickers. Rhyno comes in and Gores Gallows for an elimination at 12:28. Cass wastes no time with a big boot to Rhyno, followed by the Bada Boom Shaka Lacka for the pin at 12:45.

That leaves us with the Usos….who superkick Enzo down to set up the Superfly Splash and an elimination at 13:26 before I can type the Raw teams. So now we’re down to the Usos vs. Cesaro/Sheamus with the latter hitting the ten forearms (you know the chant) on Jimmy. Cesaro comes in and eats a double superkick but Sheamus Brogue kicks Jimmy with Jey making a diving save.

Super White Noise plants Jimmy again but Jey is right back with a Superfly Splash for two with Cesaro making a save of his own. The hot tag brings in Cesaro for the Uppercut Train and a 619 as the fans lose their minds over Cesaro again. A high crossbody gets two on Jey and it’s time for the Swing. Jimmy breaks up the Sharpshooter and Jey gets the Tequila Sunrise. That’s reversed right back into the Sharpshooter with Sheamus remembering he’s in the match to cut off Jimmy, leaving Jey to tap at 18:55.

Rating: B. This was during the time that I couldn’t stand Sheamus and Cesaro (not a lot has changed in a year) but they did a lot of stuff in this match, despite the crunched timeline. Getting nine eliminations in less than nineteen minutes is a lot but you have to clear the ring out at the beginning. It’s entertaining, but hits a hard ceiling that it’s not getting past.

Stephanie and Foley decide that Sheamus and Cesaro should get a Tag Team Title shot tomorrow night. They recap the rest of the show with Stephanie getting way too serious, as usual.

Preview for TLC with Dean Ambrose vs. AJ Styles in a TLC match for the title.

Cruiserweight Champion Brian Kendrick does his best Sean O’Haire impression and is ready for Kalisto. If Kalisto wins, he brings the division to Smackdown. It’s fine for a one off match but it was really hard to buy Kendrick as the best cruiserweight in the company in 2016.

Cruiserweight Title: Kalisto vs. Brian Kendrick

Kendrick is defending and charges straight into a knee to the face. Kalisto is right back with a suicide dive, followed by a springboard corkscrew crossbody for two. Some rollups give Kalisto more near falls and a shotgun dropkick has Kendrick in even more trouble. A rollup into the corner finally gives Kendrick a breather and he crushes Kalisto between the steps and the apron for good measure.

Back in and we hit the cravate to slow things back down. Kalisto manages to fight up and get to the apron where he grabs a C4 out to the floor in the big crash of the match. A good looking suicide dive takes Kendrick down again but he reverses a super Salida Del Sol into the Captain’s Hook. Kalisto finally grabs the ropes and fires off some kicks, followed by the hurricanrana driver. The Salida Del Sol gets two with Kendrick getting to the ropes. Kalisto heads up top….and here’s Baron Corbin for the DQ at 12:21.

Rating: C-. The match was good at times but Kendrick really isn’t the kind of guy you want as a long term champion. It also didn’t help that you knew they weren’t changing up the cruiserweight division so close to 205 Live’s launch. Corbin interfering was fine enough, but it really does make the title match feel like a big waste of time.

The Kickoff Show panel recaps the show so far.

Daniel Bryan yells at Corbin, who doesn’t want little pests running around on Smackdown.

We recap the men’s Survivor Series match, which started in July at the second Brand Split. Naturally this is about the McMahons as Shane and Stephanie are the Commissioners and therefore they have to be fighting. We look at all the entrants as this is treated like the major match is should be treated as. Then Shane is added to the match and that notion kind of falls apart.

Raw Men’s Team vs. Smackdown Men’s Team

Raw: Braun Strowman, Chris Jericho, Kevin Owens, Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins

Smackdown: AJ Styles, Bray Wyatt, Dean Ambrose, Randy Orton, Shane McMahon

AJ and Owens are the World Champions, Reigns is US Champion and Ellsworth is here as the mascot. This is also during the period where Orton is part of the Wyatt Family because we needed that story to get to Orton as World Champion again. Rollins gets a nice reaction and it’s far better without BURN IT DOWN or whatever the line is. AJ and Owens start things off with Styles wasting no time in hitting the drop down into the dropkick.

That’s enough of that though as it’s and they slug it out with AJ getting the better of it. The STUPID IDIOT chants mean it’s time for Jericho, who throws his shirt at AJ and hammers away. Styles dropkicks him down again as the announcers discuss Jericho insulting Undertaker on Twitter. It’s off to Ambrose vs. Rollins, which turns into far more of a wrestling match than it should.

Rollins can’t get a Pedigree so let’s go back to Jericho. Chris yells at Dean for the $15,000 jacket issue, earning himself some really bad armdrags. An enziguri cuts Dean down for two but Ambrose is right back with a bunch of right hands to the head. Shane comes in for the first time and my interest goes down. I’m still not a fan of middle aged Shane and this isn’t likely to change things.

Shane’s bad punches and an armdrag (better than Dean’s) take Jericho down until a dropkick cuts him off. The announcers debate the TV ratings as Reigns comes in and gets booed out of the building. Roman hammers him down in the corner and Seth comes in for a chinlock. That’s broken up so let’s go with Dean vs. Kevin. Owens hits a superkick but gets caught in a hurricanrana, only to have Jericho break up Dirty Deeds.

Everything breaks down and Strowman tags himself in, leaving the fans to chant for Ellsworth. The fight heads outside with Dean being left alone in the ring until Strowman catches his slingshot dive. Strowman walks him around the ring until AJ’s slingshot forearm to the floor breaks it up. Owens dives onto everyone and Strowman tosses Shane across the ring in a pretty good power display.

Some double teaming doesn’t do much to stop Strowman but they manage to knock him outside. That’s enough of Dean and Ambrose working together so they get in a fight, allowing Strowman to hit the running powerslam for the pin on Dean at 15:57. AJ was looking right at the cover and didn’t move. Shane gets to beat on Strowman for a bit but thankfully he gets hammered down as well.

The Phenomenal Forearm is pulled out of the air with AJ being tossed outside in a nasty heap. Orton gets thrown aside too but a stare from Bray stops Strowman in his tracks. Strowman grabs Jericho by the throat but decides to run Bray over instead, followed by a dropkick to put him on the floor. Braun goes outside as well but runs into an RKO onto the announcers’ table. After we pause to see what a random eight year old fan thought of it (he was applauding), Shane drops the top rope elbow to put Strowman through said table. That and Ellsworth grabbing Braun’s foot get Strowman counted out at 21:18.

Strowman catches Ellsworth running up the ramp though (How slow is this guy?) and throws him off the stage through some tables. Everyone else is mostly dead until Jericho covers Shane for two. Owens is fresh enough to drop the backsplash on Shane for two (but only after mocking the dance). There’s the Lionsault but Shane gets two of his own off a small package.

Shane takes a Codebreaker but Orton comes in before the cover, meaning Shane survives another finisher. He avoids a top rope splash though and it’s off to AJ to work on Jericho. With Owens getting in an insult to AJ’s hair (too far man), Jericho counters the Styles Clash into a failed Walls attempt. The Phenomenal Blitz rocks Jericho but Owens comes in with the List of Jericho to blast AJ. That’s a DQ at 29:23, but not before he gives AJ a Pop Up Powerbomb.

Orton gets the tag and comes in with the RKO to get rid of Jericho at 30:19. Notice Reigns blankly staring up at the ramp and not hearing the RKO RIGHT IN FRONT OF HIM. So it’s down to Shane/AJ/Orton/Wyatt vs. Reigns/Rollins with Orton hammering on Rollins to start. Wyatt and Orton take turns on Seth as Shane is still laid on the apron after his long time in the ring. The superplex takes Rollins down (looks great too) but it allows the hot tag to Reigns. AJ comes in as well and MY GOODNESS the fans do not like Reigns.

House is cleaned with a series of Samoan drops, followed by a great looking Razor’s Edge powerbomb for two on AJ. Seriously that was good enough to cut off the booing. A Pele cuts off a Superman Punch and it’s back to Shane for no logical reason. Shane gets in a tornado DDT to drop Reigns and a clothesline takes Rollins down. Reigns tries a spear but gets awkwardly countered into the post.

In probably the spot of the match, Shane loads up Coast to Coast but gets speared out of the air for a SICK landing. Shane actually kicks out at two but you can see that he is completely gone. Like Lesnar after the botched shooting star gone. The referee says Shane is eliminated at 37:07, presumably due to his brains looking like a pie that has been run over by a bus driven by raccoons.

We pause for a bit as doctors get Shane out of the ring until Roman blasts Bray with a clothesline. Rollins and AJ get stereo hot tags with Seth’s Blockbuster putting Styles down. There’s the slingshot knee to AJ and a suicide dive to Wyatt. With Reigns down on the floor, let’s hit that ROMAN’S SLEEPING chant! Still one of my favorites because the fans just will not give him a break no matter what. An enziguri staggers AJ on top and now it’s WAKE UP ROMAN. Reigns does in fact wake up and saves Rollins from a hanging DDT on the floor.

With Orton down, it seems as good a time as any for a DoubleBomb. Styles makes a save before it can be loaded up but here’s Ambrose to jump Styles again. The fans call Dean a STUPID IDIOT as the former Shield beats up security. NOW the TripleBomb puts AJ through the table, allowing Rollins to get the pin at 47:00. It’s down to two on two with the Wyatts vs. the Shield (not the worst idea in the world)….and here’s Luke Harper for a distraction so the Wyatts can take over.

Reigns posts Orton but Harper superkicks him down, only to have Rollins score with a flip dive to the floor. Back in and the low superkick hits Wyatt but he dives into an RKO, giving Bray the pin at 49:25. Reigns, all alone, sends both of them outside and takes Harper out as a bonus. Back in and Orton eats a spear to save Wyatt, leaving Bray to grab Sister Abigail for the pin at 52:50.

Rating: A. This is a great example of a match that benefits from all of the time it had. What I loved about this was how long it took to take someone out. Most of the people in here were former World Champions and it doesn’t make sense to have them losing in a minute or two like in the other matches. They let the match build up for a change and that’s what makes this feel important.

Above all else though, this felt like someone surviving instead of whoever was left last. Look at the women’s match. Bayley barely looked like she had been through anything at the end. Orton and Wyatt looked banged up, which is how they should after a match like this. It’s a well put together match that got the kind of time it needed, which is exactly how something like this should be. Really strong stuff here with Bray, who actually needed it, getting the win.

We recap Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar. Goldberg was being interviewed about being in WWE2K16 and said he didn’t owe Lesnar a rematch. Lesnar challenged him though and Goldberg wanted his son to see him wrestle. The match was on and it does indeed feel like a battle of two people who could kill each other.

Brock Lesnar vs. Goldberg

We get the full Goldberg entrance, complete with someone knocking on his door. Lesnar drives him into the corner to start but Goldberg shoves him right back down, scaring the heck out of Lesnar in the process. Back up and the spear connects to drop Lesnar again. There’s a second spear, followed by a Jackhammer to give Goldberg the huge upset at 1:25.

Yeah I still don’t like it. Sure it was shocking and a huge moment, but what did this set up? Goldberg eliminating Lesnar from the Rumble, Goldberg getting the most unnecessary Universal Title reign ever, and then a good sub five minute match at Wrestlemania. One of WWE’s biggest issues is giving fans something to cheer for and they give this spot to Goldberg, who they didn’t even create, for the sake of a video game (might not have been their call) and a story that could have made someone’s career. After this, Samoa Joe and Braun Strowman both fell to Lesnar, but Goldberg doesn’t. I don’t buy it, nor to I like it.

Goldberg celebrates with his family to end the show.

Overall Rating: B+. One of the major perks about a match running nearly an hour on a three and a half hour show is that it can REALLY bring an overall rating up. Throw in a good women’s match and nothing really bad, this is actually a strong show. It’s far from perfect (main event aside, though that was the only thing that could have closed the show) but it’s a heck of a card, which I can always go for of course. The main issue is they could have gotten this one under three hours so it’s a bit long but nothing too bad. Really solid show though and most of that is due to the mega long match.

Ratings Comparison

Rich Swann/Noam Dar/TJ Perkins vs. Ariya Daivari/Tony Nese/Drew Gulak

Original: C

Redo: C-

Kane vs. Luke Harper

Original: C-

Redo: D+

Women’s Survivor Series Match

Original: C

Redo: C+

Miz vs. Sami Zayn

Original: C+

Redo: C-

Tag Team Survivor Series Match

Original: D+

Redo: B

Kalisto vs. Brian Kendrick

Original: C

Redo: C-

Men’s Survivor Series Match

Original: A-

Redo: A

Goldberg vs. Brock Lesnar

Original: N/A

Redo: N/A

Overall Rating

Original: C-

Redo: B+

My eyebrows went up when I saw the original overall rating. The year of mellowing on the ending have helped a lot as there’s no way this is a B-. Also I really couldn’t stand Sheamus and Cesaro back then.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2016/11/20/survivor-series-2016-there-are-no-words/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

Survivor Series 2013
Date: November 24, 2013
Location: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
Attendance: 13,500
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, John Bradshaw Layfield

Pre-Show: Kofi Kingston vs. The Miz

Miz turned on Kofi in a tag match on Raw to set this up. He offers a handshake to start but Kofi is too smart for that. We get a surprisingly fast start with Kofi trying to get a grip on Miz but settling for a rollup for two. They trade about three rollups each for three in a very nice chain wrestling sequence until we reach a stalemate. Miz goes for the Figure Four but has to duck Trouble in Paradise. Kofi sends him to the floor for a nice dive and we take a break. Back with Kofi holding a chinlock before getting two off a cross body.

The opening video talks about how survival is a must before transitioning to your usual hype video for the World Title matches.

Rey Mysterio/Usos/Goldust/Cody Rhodes vs. Real Americans/Shield

Elimination rules of course and the Real Americans are Jack Swagger and Cesaro. The Usos are twin Samoan high fliers. Ricardo Rodriguez is on Spanish commentary. Colter (a VERY proud American who wants all non-Americans to leave the country) does his usual routine before the match before attempting to twerk because what would a wrestling show be without that?

Cody comes in with a missile dropkick followed by the moonsault press for two on Rollins. Cross Rhodes connects but Reigns made a blind tag, allowing him to spear Cody in half for the elimination, leaving us at 3-2. Jey comes in and takes Reigns to the floor, sending him into the barricade and post. Back in and Rollins makes a quick tag to set up the Black Out (running one foot curb stomp) to eliminate Jey, leaving us with Reigns/Rollins vs. Goldust/Mysterio.

Intercontinental Title: Curtis Axel vs. Big E. Langston

Langston, defending here, is a powerlifter and incredibly strong. This is the rematch from when Axel lost the title on Monday before why change the title here? Axel grabs a headlock to start but Langston easily powers out. They trade leapfrogs until Langston runs him over with ease. Axel sends him to the apron and forearms Langston down to the floor for his first advantage.

Post match Langston cuts a promo that would make Mick Foley proud, mentioning Boston three times in about 20 seconds.

Team AJ vs. Total Divas

AJ Lee/Tamina Snuka/Summer Rae/Alicia Fox/Rosa Mendes/Kaitlyn/Aksana

Bella Twins/Funkadactyls/JoJo/Eva Marie/Natalya

Rating: D-. Other than their looks, nothing was good about this. The whole thing was a way to show us that Total Divas are AWESOME while making it clear that most of them are models who look good in little outfits but have no business EVER being in a ring. AJ continues to be exactly right about everything she says but WWE has decided that the reality “stars” are the heroes, no matter what.

Orton tries to get Charles Robinson on his side to no avail.

Mark Henry vs. Ryback

Now the panel talks a bit.

We recap Cena vs. Del Rio. Nothing special to say here: Cena won the title last month and this is the rematch. Cena opts for no arm brace despite having to take a few months off for elbow surgery.

World Heavyweight Championship: John Cena vs. Alberto Del Rio

Santino and R-Truth play with toys. Los Matadores (Primo and Epico as bullfighters), Fandango and John Laurinitis come in for some unfunny comedy. Ok Ace was funny at least.

Wyatt Family vs. CM Punk/Daniel Bryan

A missile dropkick gets two and there are the YES Kicks. The running dropkick in the corner staggers the big man but Harper counters a top rope hurricanrana into a super sitout powerbomb for two. The fans think this is awesome as Bray yells at the Family. Rowan splashes Bryan for two and the second heat segment begins. Harper comes in with some forearms to the back but Punk kicks him in the back of the head to give Bryan a breather.

Bray teases getting in but stays on the floor.

Cena is talking to the Authority about something when Orton comes in to glare at them. The Viper sounds jealous.

WWE Championship: Randy Orton vs. Big Show

Orton is defending and is on the floor about a second after the bell rings. He trips getting back inside to show how confused he is tonight and gets chopped LOUDLY by Big Show. More slow offense sets up more chops by Big Show but Orton comes back with a dropkick and some kicks to the head. A knee drop gets two for the champion and we hit a sleeper. Big Show loudly says “two clotheslines” before hitting two clotheslines and calling for the chokeslam, sending Orton running to the floor.

Back in and Big Show slams him down before going to the top rope, only to be crotched on the top rope. The Elevated DDT out of the corner puts Big Show down and Orton poses a lot. Show grabs a chokeslam out of nowhere for two and loads up the KO punch but Orton bails to the floor. The big man follows him to the floor and throws Orton at the ropes, taking out the referee in the process. Randy finds a chair but gets it slapped out of his hands before they go into the crowd.

That goes nowhere so they head back to ringside where Orton tries the Elevated DDT again, only to have Show escape and hit the KO punch. Back inside and the Authority comes out for a distraction, allowing Orton to hit a quick RKO. The annoying crowd chants for Daniel Bryan as Orton hits the Punt to retain.

Ratings Comparison

The Miz vs. Kofi Kingston

Original:B-

Redo: C

Real Americans/Shield vs. Cody Rhodes/Goldust/Rey Mysterio/Usos

Original:B-

Redo: C

Curtis Axel vs. Big E. Langston

Original:D+

Redo: D+

Total Divas vs. True Divas

Original:D-

Redo: F

Mark Henry vs. Ryback

Original:D

Redo: D

Alberto Del Rio vs. John Cena

Original:D+

Redo: B

Wyatt Family vs. CM Punk/Daniel Bryan

Original:B

Redo: B-

Big Show vs. Randy Orton

Original:D-

Redo: D

Overall Rating

Original:D+

Redo: C-

Dang I hated Del Rio back then.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2013/11/24/survivor-series-2013-they-had-me-for-a-bit/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6

 

Survivor Series 2011
Date: November 20, 2011
Location: Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York
Attendance: 16,749
Commentators: Michael Cole, Jerry Lawler, Booker T

The whole history thing starts us off again, as always. The rest of the video of course turns to focus on the Rock.

US Title: Dolph Ziggler vs. John Morrison

The fans now think this is boring so Dolph jumps over John in the corner and hits a dropkick to take over. Off to a headlock by the champion as the fans still want Ryder. Dolph gets thrown to the floor and Morrison hits a big corkscrew dive to take the champ out. Vickie offers an annoying distraction and Ziggler takes over back inside. Ziggler takes Morrison down and nips up in a good athletic display before hooking a near Crossface.

Divas Title: Eve Torres vs. Beth Phoenix

David Otunga (a wrestler with a real life law degree from Harvard) comes in to annoy Punk and says Cole deserves an apology from some attack by Punk. Punk says let me go become world champion first.

Team Barrett vs. Team Orton

Wade Barrett, Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger, Hunico, Dolph Ziggler

Randy Orton, Kofi Kingston, Sheamus, Mason Ryan, Sin Cara

Off to Sheamus vs. Cody now with the Irishman quickly getting annoyed. He pounds Rhodes down in the corner and hits the ten forearms in the ropes, which they tried to name some Irish word. It lasted about two weeks before they realized it speaks for itself pretty well. Cody tries to low bridge Sheamus but Sheamus lands on the apron. Barrett decks the Irishman and Hunico comes in with a springboard dropkick to the knee.

The ring is reenforced for the next match after Big Show and Henry broke the ring at Vengeance, hence the rematch here.

World Heavyweight Championship: Mark Henry vs. Big Show

The New York National Guard is here.

We recap Punk vs. Del Rio. Del Rio cashed in MITB at Summerslam after Punk won, Cena beat Del Rio at Vengeance, Del Rio won a three way with Punk and Cena in the Cell, tonight is the rematch from Summerslam, if you call that a match.

WWE Championship: CM Punk vs. Alberto Del Rio

Alberto is defending. Del Rio has Ricardo Rodriguez introduce him, so CM Punk brings out his own ring announcer: HOWARD FINKEL! Round one goes to Punk. Howard waddles out and seems genuinely choked up by the reaction he gets. The fans want ice cream which is a thing Punk said he wanted in his own image. Feeling out process to start as Punk does his headlock so he can call spots to Del Rio.

^th armbar of the match. Punk breaks that one as well but charges into a tilt-a-whirl backbreaker for two.

Punk celebrates for a long time post match. He would hold the title for over a year in the longest reign in over twenty years.

Awesome Truth vs. The Rock/John Cena

Ratings Comparison

Dolph Ziggler vs. John Morrison

Original: B-

Redo: B-

Beth Phoenix vs. Eve Torres

Original: C

Redo: C

Team Barrett vs. Team Orton

Original: B-

Redo: B

Big Show vs. Mark Henry

Original: B-

Redo: C+

CM Punk vs. Alberto Del Rio

Original: C+

Redo: A

The Rock/John Cena vs. Awesome Truth

Original: B

Redo: B

Overall Rating

Original: B

Redo: A

The World Title really changed things for me here. Still a great show though.

Here’s the original review if you’re interested:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2011/11/20/survivor-series-2011-rock-still-has-it/

Remember to follow me on Twitter @kbreviews and pick up the paperback edition of KB’s Complete 2003 Smackdown Reviews (also available as an e-book) from Amazon. Check out the information here:

http://kbwrestlingreviews.com/2018/09/07/new-book-kbs-complete-smackdown-2003-reviews/

And check out my Amazon author page with cheap wrestling books at:

http://www.amazon.com/Thomas-Hall/e/B00E6282W6